The Apathy of a Gamer

She couldn't stop crying.

It had been a couple hours since the death game was announced. An ambulance was already on it's way to pick up her brother. Her mother was in the same state she was. Ever since they found out what had happened, their tears just couldn't stop falling.

Suguha and her mom were sitting next to Kazuto, holding his hand as he laid in his bed. The only sound in the room was the slow intake of air and the release of his breath. Neither of them said anything to each other. Every time they tried to, they would end up a blubbering mess as sobs escaped their throats.

Why? Why did this happen? Why him? All he wanted to do was play a video game.

Video games.

She hated them. Seeing what they did to her brother fueled that hatred. If it wasn't for those dumb, pointless video games, her brother wouldn't be in this mess! Why couldn't he just stay away from them!?

No, she couldn't blame him. It was his hobby, just like practicing kendo was hers. This wasn't his fault.

It was Akihiko Kayaba's

She never even heard of the man until today. She and her mom heard it on the news. That this man had trapped everyone playing Sword Art Online inside the game. How could he do something like this? Kazuto, and everyone else who were playing it are just gamers, and now they're trapped inside of it with no way to get out!? What if they died?

What if he died?

Suguha didn't want that. It was sickening to even think of something so atrocious. It made her want to throw up. But the sad truth was, it was possible. He and everyone else inside the game could die. She couldn't imagine what he was going through right now. He must be terrified.

She was too.

If Kazuto actually died in there, she'd be ruined. She loved him so much. She wouldn't be able to bear it if he wasn't there anymore.

And that wasn't even the worst part.

It tore her up inside recalling how she treated him the past month. She knew that he was trying hard to get her to forgive him. He really was sorry. But she wanted him to learn a lesson.

When Suguha realized that Kazuto didn't show up to her kendo tournament, her stomach dropped. She felt betrayed. He was so sincere to her, she really believed in him. But in the end he just lied to her face. Getting her hopes up and tossing her feelings aside.

She felt angry too. How could he do something like that? She knew better than anyone that Kazuto was actually a good person. Sure he has a lot of faults, but he is kind and always does his best. She always thought that he would never break a promise.

Until then, at least. She knew he didn't mean to. She took one look at his face and could tell he regretted every second he wasn't there. But she couldn't just forgive him. He wouldn't learn his lesson if she did. She needed to teach him not to do something like that again.

It was working. He tried just about everything she could think of to make it up to her. He even bought her an expensive necklace with the money he won from that gaming tournament. She couldn't be next to him for too long. If she was, her angry facade would break. And now, she wished it had.

Their last interaction together was of her making some snarky reply and blowing him off. He probably thinks that she hates him and that he deserved to die in there but that wasn't what she thought at all!

If he dies, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. She wanted to have more interactions with him, more happy times that they could remember together. She wished she never started ignored him in the first place. He learned his lesson along time ago, she was just dragging it out. It was her fault. Why did she have to be such a bitch? She kept thinking the same sentence over and over in her head.

'What could I have done differently?'

---

It had been a couple hours since Kayaba announced his death game and Kirito had already made his way back to «Horunka Village» killing nepents for their «Little Nepent's Ovule». Just because there was a death game didn't mean he was changing his routine. He still needed to get his «Anneal Blade». Doing this quest was the only way to get it unless you bought it from a different player. Because they were so rare, players charged a lot of col for it. It didn't really matter to him because he wasn't going to let some guy do the work for him.

Being honest with himself, the death game didn't really bother him. Kirito just wanted to have fun playing the game. The game is just tougher now that dying meant permanent death in both the real and virtual worlds. He remembered all the players in the «Town of Beginnings». Everyone of them were either screaming or so shocked that they couldn't say anything. They must be pretty scared. But he wasn't. This world really is just a game. All you have to do is be good at it. He estimated a good half of the players would probably never leave the town out of fear and that was perfectly fine with someone like him. If they don't feel comfortable fighting then they shouldn't have to. Leave it to the pros.

It started making Kirito think about it even more. How many players would die? How many players plan to fight? How many will make it to the end?

That last part definitely included him. He was NOT going to miss the end game. After all, that's the best part. What'd be the point of going through your entire journey in Aincrad only to die in the end? That person wasn't gonna be him. He was a pro, and pros win. Kirito knew better than anyone how this game worked. In fact, he has already planned out what he needed to do through the nine floors that were previously unlocked in the beta. He knew every quest he would take, every route to travel, and the best ways he could get xp fast. He even started planning on what he would do after those floors.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice until the message appeared.

Congratulations!

Level up!

1 » 2

Kirito smirked. Still only a few hours in and he reached level two. It didn't sound like much, but level two on the first day was really good. He sheathed his sword and pulled up his menu. It was time for him to pick his second skill.

Previously, Kirito thought long and hard on which skill he should take. It was a tough choice between the two ones he wanted. Of course he would get them both eventually, but which one would be more useful to start with?

The «Searching» skill? or the «Hiding» skill?

Kirito knew exactly which one to take. The choice was obvious for a veteran like himself. He would choose the «Searching» skill. It was a simple reason that most people would overlook. He only knew about it because of his previous experiences as a beta tester.

MPKing

MPK meant Monster Player Kill. This means that someone baits and lures a strong monster to kill a nearby player instead of them directly killing the player themselves. The biggest and most common place that people MPK'd in the beta was during the quest «The Secret Medicine in the Forest».

The exact same quest he was doing now.

It was actually a pretty clever trick. An average player would be minding their own business, fighting one or two nepents without much difficulty. But that would be when a nearby player would destroy the fruit on a nepent's head which would then lure all the nepents into that area. The player who struck the fruit would take off leaving the average player to get overran with nepents and killed. The only player loot that was dropped this way was col, and quest items, making it very convenient for an MPKer. About one in three beta testers who did the quest tried MPKing someone. Kirito himself actually did it to a player. It was pretty fun.

But he knew it wouldn't be fun on the receiving end. Kirito wasn't going to be knocked out of the game from a basic trick like that. And that reason is exactly why he chose the «Searching» skill. If he had the skill and someone tried to MPK him while he was doing the quest, he could quicky activate it, see where the nepents were coming from, and go the way with the least amount of nepents. He could simply dodge and slash through the few that got in his way.

He also knew that if «Searching» and «Hiding» were at the same level, «Searching» would be able to see through «Hiding». He didn't know why, but it was just a fact he knew. So getting «Searching» was easily the best choice. He'd get «Hiding» in a couple of levels.

Kirito selected «Searching» as his second skill and was just about to start grinding again when a thought appeared.

'Would people even try to MPK, or even PK now that dying meant real death?' He only thought of this breifly before coming up with an answer.

Of course people would try to MPK and PK. It was human nature to survive. Even if that meant killing someone else. As long as it meant saving yourself, it wouldn't really matter.

People start to think irrationally after they feel threatened. Especially if it threatens their life. Not only that, but greed also begins to overrun people's emotions. Say, three players were doing this quest and an ovule popped up. Even if they were trying to get it together, only one of them can get the ovule. It would just mean that they all have to stay longer so they could all get one. And what if the person who got it decided to leave? It was pointless for them to stay because they already gotten the item. This would make the other players angry, and therefore MPK the person who got the ovule.

Kirito wasn't an idiot. He knew something like that was guaranteed to happen. It would only be a matter of time.

He continued to slay more nepents. After a few more minutes, his newfound «Searching» skill picked up something behind a tree.

It was a player.

'Damn. Well I knew people would start pouring in eventually. At least I had a few hours to myself.' He thought sadly, the peacefulness of being alone coming to a closure.

"Hey you, behind the tree. I know your there so just come out already." Kirito said to the hiding player.

He heard a leaf break, and saw the player come out of hiding. "Woah, how did you know I was behind there? Do you already have the «Searching» skill?" The player questioned. 'This guy's sharp-witted.' Kirito inquired.

"No, it was obvious with you breaking all those leaves." Kirito lied. "Oh haha." The player laughed. "I guess I wasn't as sneaky as I thought, huh?" The player said sounding much more jovial than what Kirito expected for a guy who just learned that this was a death game.

'He's hiding something. Either that, or planning it.' Kirito thought, holding back a scowl. 'He better not try to MPK me. He seems like the type who would try something like that.'

"So, I'm guessing that you also started «The Secret Medicine in the Forest», right? It's funny, I thought I would be the first one here." The player held a hand to his mouth, holding back a chuckle that couldn't be more fake. "Would you like to party up with me? The quest would be done a lot faster."

"No." Kirito immediately responded.

"Huh? But why? We're obviously both beta testers because we already found our way here so I'm sure we both know how to play. It would save us some time too. What would be the point in not partying?" The player asked, surprised by Kirito's quick answer.

"Because I don't want to waste my time sharing loot with you." Kirito replied rudely. In truth, that was only half the reason. The other half was because partying with another player meant showing them his name. He did not want someone, especially a guy like this, to learn that he was Kirito.

The player was stunned for a short moment, and forcefully smiled back at Kirito, trying to maintain his temper. "Oh alright, I understand. I'll leave you be. I'm just gonna go over here killing these nepents. I'll stay out of your way."

Kirito got a bad feeling. He watched as the player made his way to other nepents that were nearby. Problem was, he was still in eye view. Meaning that if he wanted to, he could still MPK him. Kirito honestly wasn't sure what this guy was going to do. All he knew was that he better not try anything. He didn't want to say anything to the player either. He didn't know if it was from being anxious to talk to someone else or because he wanted to see if the guy would really try to MPK him.

Kirito continued killing nepents for another thirty minutes without anymore interruptions. He glanced next to him and still saw the player nearby. 'Come on man, there's a few other clearings with nepents in them and yet you're still sticking near me. What's your game?' Kirito wondered. He knew deep down that this player was up to no good.

Then a miracle happened. Already with only a few hours in the game. The nepent with the red flower on it's head spawned in.

Kirito was a blur. Before the other player could fully register that the nepent was there, Kirito had already killed it.

Kirito bit back a smirk. 'I can't freaking believe it! I thought I would be here for at least two days but I already got it!' Kirito thought ecstatically. He didn't know where this amazing luck appeared from but he wasn't about to question it.

Kirito saw the «Little Nepent's Ovule» appear in his inventory. He was about to walk away when something completely expected happened.

The player near him cut open a fruit, drawing every nepent nearby into the clearing.

'I knew it! That little bastard is actually trying to kill me!' Kirito's previous joy was beaten down by newfound rage. 'He's trying to kill me! Of all people! ME!' Kirito thought conceitedly. No, he wasn't about to let this slide.

He quickly navigated through his menu and activated his «Searching» skill. 'There you are you little punk.' Kirito spotted the player hiding in a nearby bush. He didn't even have to focus in on him because his skill found him instantly. The player was trying to hide without the «Hiding» skill. Big mistake. Hiding skill or not, it wouldn't save him from what was about to happen.

Kirito ran in the direction of the hiding player, putting all his strength into his legs. He ran past him and kept running on, not even sparing a single glance back. 'Whatever happens next is not my problem.' Kirito stoned his heart and his thoughts. He knew it was wrong to do this. But a guy like him had it coming.

The player was completely oblivious. He saw Kirito run past him shocked. He knew he couldn't stop him. All he could do was hide and wait until the herd was over.

The poor fool was clueless to the fact that little nepents did not use sight to hunt. Therefore, hiding from them would be pointless, even with the «Hiding» skill.

He was mobbed by them, health dropping to zero. His final cries of desperation were heard by no one as he shattered into particles.

---

Kirito made it back to the house where he started the quest. He tried to keep his mind from thinking on what he had just done. He knew that guy had died. There was no way for him to escape. Still, if he didn't do what he did to him, that guy could of done the same thing to a different player. He probably wouldn't be the last to do it as well.

He ignored the touching dialogue of the talking npc. He didn't really care what she said after already hearing it before. He was more excited on getting his «Anneal Blade» back. Already on the first day and he was level two with an «Anneal Blade».

Life was good.

After receiving the quest completion pop up, he scrolled through his menu for the sword and then paused.

Should he just go ahead and equip it? Or wait? Anyone who currently showed up in «Horunka Village» would no doubt be a beta tester. If they saw that he already had an «Anneal Blade», it would drag a lot of unwanted attention onto him.

He looked at his «Beginner's Sword». His first one had already broken and this one was already worn down by fifty percent.

'I suppose I can wait a little before equipping it.' There was no need to rush. He had the weapon days before he planned to. He'll just continue to use his current sword for the rest of the day. After it broke, he would buy another «Beginner's Sword» to wear inside towns. That way he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Out in the field, he would use the «Anneal Blade» and just avoid other players so they couldn't see it.

Kirito stepped out of the npc home and looked at the sky. The moon was going up. Players would probably be going to sleep at this time. Well, trying to sleep after all that had transpired. It was strange to see that only that one guy and himself were the only people who tried going for the «Anneal Blade» today. He expected at least a few more people to be smart and get ahead of the game.

'Guess it doesn't really matter anyway.' Kirito thought. He began walking to another house to start the only other quest he planned on doing in Horunka. The xp was the only good reward, and the quest could only be done a number of times before the system wouldn't allow anyone else to do it.

That was another reason why Kirito thought players would be in town. Certain quests could only be done a few times before no longer appearing as a quest. Some quests like «The Secret Medicine in the Forest» could be done an unlimited number of times, but only once per person. Some quests can only be done once for only one person, others only once for a few people, and other quests could be done only a few times, but a player could redo it several times. Quests that could be done by anyone anytime were generally pointless as they gave terrible xp and col.

Considering the quest he was headed to was limited, he expected beta testers to start pouring in. 'Maybe, they're too scared to leave the «Town of Beginnings». Whatever, I'm wasting time thinking about it.' Kirito wasn't even the slightest tired. After that adrenaline rush back at the nepents he was more than prepared to take on another quest.

He stayed up all night grinding.

---

It's been a week since then and Kirito was already at an impressive level six. He had also gotten some basic armor from quests and monster drops. The sun was going down and Kirito was currently at an npc's blacksmithing store in «Tolbana» to increase the strength on his «Anneal Blade».

It was one of the special perks in Sword Art Online. Most weapons can be upgraded from their base stats. He knew a few weapons could be upgraded to +5 on the first few floors. Those were good, but not as good as the «Anneal Blade» that could be upgraded to +10. Players could also choose what stats they wanted upgraded on their weapon. Kirito was solely going to focus on sharpness, and a little on durability. Reason he chose sharpness because he thought the tougher, the better, and durability because it was needed.

To upgrade your weapon, you had to have the right materials and col. Materials would vary between weapons. It was also better to find a player who had a high «Blacksmithing» skill to upgrade it but that would be awhile before anyone would have that. Kirito only had enough materials to upgrade his weapon twice. He had the npc smith put one upgrade into sharpness and the second to durability, giving him an «Anneal Blade +2».

The npc was a little rude but it didn't matter. Kirito placed his sword back on his back. 'Okay, looks like I'm all prepared to take on the hidden dungeon.' Kirito was getting prepared to conquer a secret dungeon in the game. It was a very difficult dungeon that was filled with traps and high leveled monsters. Not only that, but it was SUPER long. The dungeon had several parts. Probably meaning a player could come back a higher level after they played more of the game. He was able to beat the first part in the beta. He tried to do the second but could only go so far before the monsters in there completely outleveled him and he could no longer sneak past them.

It was the only time he nearly died.

Kirito grimaced recalling the events of the day when he first discovered it. He was embarrassed to say that he had to leave and come back better equipped to complete the first part. Most people wouldn't even be able to find it. He was pretty sure that he was the only one who actually did find it in the first place.

The dungeon was legitimately hidden between a rock and a hard place. There was also a hidden puzzle to open the dungeon up. After you left, the dungeon would close behind you and you would have to do the puzzle again to open it. The «Searching» skill did not reveal it's puzzle or even the dungeon itself. Only someone with super high awareness like himself could discover it.

Kirito began walking out of town to head for the dungeon. He had gotten a full night's sleep instead of his usual four-five hours. He wanted to be completely prepared for this risky task. He'd done it before. He was sure he could do it again.

He looked around. No one else was even in «Tolbana». He actually hadn't seen anyone ever since that day in Horunka. 'Maybe I'm just that far ahead of them.' He knew there had to be some players who were fighting. Not every single player would stay in the «Town of Beginnings». He assumed that there were players in Horunka by now. Even players who weren't in the beta could figure out how to get there by now. Especially if they teamed up with a beta tester.

Looking around, it was actually kind of nice to be the only real person in this ghost town. He already saw proof of what could happen when he interacted with other players. They just cause trouble. He didn't want to stress out about other people interfering with his gaming. These moments weren't gonna last forever. «Tolbana» was the last town on floor one so people would eventually get here and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Kirito made his way through the gates of «Tolbana» and began using his recently received «Sprinting» skill. He decided to go now because he was leveled up enough to defend himself and «Tolbana» was the closest town to the secret dungeon.

It took over an hour and the sun had fully went down, but he had finally made it to the dungeon.

Or so he thought.

He was standing in the place where the dungeon was but...

"IT'S NOT HERE!" Kirito shouted out in surprise. He looked around frantically. Nothing suspicious. It all just looked like normal rock! He began beating on the rocks. Maybe they hid it better? That didn't work either! He activated «Searching». He knew that «Searching» couldn't find it last time but maybe it can now!?

Nope. Absolutely nothing.

Kirito's eyebrow furrowed. He was getting angry. 'Kayaba... You better not of removed the dungeon or I swear...' It kinda made since. He removed the dungeon to avoid both people dying and receiving good items. But that wasn't the point! Only he found it and it's not like he would die!

He wasn't gonna give up yet though. He still had hope. He would look around. Maybe the dungeon was just moved. Or maybe it really is just harder to find. He'd search all night if he had too.

Kirito gave a small chuckle. 'I never actually thought that Kayaba would do something like this. He actually put a hole in my plans. Oh well.' If it really was removed, it would not only suck but also set his plans back quite a bit. The secret dungeon gave out a lot of high leveled equipment and a good amount of xp. That was the reason why it was so difficult in the first place. But if Kirito had to, he would find other ways to make up for the huge loss.

It took another hour of his night but Kirito found a discrepancy. The placement of the dungeon was almost identical to the first one. There was a few differences though. The first and obvious was that it was at a different location. The second was the puzzle. Previously, there was a small gap in the stone of the rock. A player could find the missing rock with a bunch of other rocks a few minutes away. The player would place the rock in the gap and the dungeon would open. This time, there was no missing rock, but a flower patch. There was a small gap between the flowers in the flowerbed. A missing flower.

Kirito knew he couldn't just get a flower and place it there. It wouldn't make much since. He took a closer look and it seemed as if a seed was already placed in the gap. 'Oh I see. These flowers must have already grown, and this one here has not yet bloomed.'

He took a water flax out of his inventory and poured some water on the flower gap. Surprisingly, the missing flower shot right out of the dirt and bloomed just as brightly as it's peers. He heard a small click and the rock blocking the hidden entrance was moved.

Kirito sighed relived. He was glad that the dungeon wasn't removed. Losing an hour of time finding it was a lot better than losing it completely.

He then had an epiphany. 'The dungeon was moved. That means that the game was changed from the beta!.' What if this dungeon location wasn't the only thing different from the beta test. What if everything inside was different? What if future floors or towns were different? What about monsters? There were so many differences that could be changed from the original game!

He realized that he may just have to forget what he had previously learned from the beta. Sure he learned how to play. Everything else on the first floor was as accurate as it was in the beta. But that didn't mean that other information couldn't be different. Maybe quests were removed or locations were changed. Even monsters could have different abilities. If that was true then he knew he would have to be more careful. Now more than ever before.

This game was different. This isn't the same SAO he played before. This was SAO 2.0. He couldn't believe that he overlooked something so simple! 'Of course Kayaba had us beta test the game! It wasn't just to test bugs, but it was so he could make changes!' Like any other beta test in a video game, Sword Art Online's beta was there so Akihiko Kayaba could make any changes he saw fit.

'What a newbie move.' Kirito thought to himself. Well, he wouldn't make a mistake like this again. If he did, the next mistake could very easily kill him. It was a good thing he learned of this fact now when it wasn't dangerous instead of finding out the game was different in a life threatening situation. He mentally slapped himself and was now even more prepared. He was more pumped up than ever!

He entered the dungeon with a brand new mindset. He used to think he was prepared for anything. Now, he really was. He wasn't gonna lose.

For some reason, just like the last time he was here in the beta, the dungeon did not have a name. Every dungeon in the game had one except for this. 'Guess it's because it is suppose to be secret.'

The rock blocking the dungeon rolled back into it's previous resting place. Kirito looked behind him and saw the switch to open the dungeon back up. He tested it and it worked. After shutting the entrance again, he proceeded ahead.

There it was. Already he spotted the first trap. A simple tripwire. Normally, simply walking over the wire would be safe, but if you did that then the floor would collapse. The player would fall into a pit hole. Either trapped, or dead. If you trigger the wire, it would send out an axe that would chop your head clean off. All you had to do to get passed the trap was to duck under the axe and keep going. The floor would be steeled and would now be safe to walk across. But he knew better now. This trap could easily be different, luring the player expecting the previous trap into a new one.

Kirito took a rock out of his inventory. He had a few in there just in case he needed to distract some monsters. He tossed the rock directly on the wire so it would be triggered. It was a good thing Kirito realized that the game was different beforehand because a huge square rock fell on the tripped wire. He knew if he was standing there, he wouldn't be able to move out of the way fast enough. He watched as two rock monsters rose from the top of the rock. He looked above their head.

Rock Golem

Level 5

Kirito withdrew his sword. These monsters seemed the same as they were in the beta. They were just located further inside the dungeon. They trudged their way towards Kirito at a slow place. They were tough, but slow. He easily sped past both. His sword lit up orange as he used the sword skill «Horizontal». He hit the joint on the golem's right arm, cutting it off.

The golem turned around and tried to hook him with it's left fist. He ducked past it and used «Horizontal» on the other golem that also cut it's right arm off. The golem who swung at him hit the square rock, making it's left fist stuck inside it. The second golem tried doing the same as the first. When it's fist fell towards him, he jumped on it, bringing the golem to the ground with momentum and hit the back of it's head with «Vertical». The golem shattered. The first golem was still stuck in the rock and before it could get loose, Kirito ran at it using «Lunge». He stabbed it in the back, killing it.

He looked around and saw that no other monsters spawned. He flicked his sword and sheathed it. Kirito activated «Searching» to see any other traps near or on the square rock. It was so huge that he couldn't walk around. He would have to climb over it. There didn't see any traps so he deemed it was safe to move forward.

'Only a minute in and I already could of died. I'm not as stupid as you think, Kayaba.' Kirito was fooled once, but that would NEVER happen again. Kirito didn't plan on being fooled again. 'I'm ready for your tricks Kayaba. Come and get me.' Kirito taunted in his head

It was nighttime. From experience, he would probably get out of here midday tomorrow. Considering that there are different aspects added to the dungeon, he would probably be in here longer. He was prepared for that. In fact, he wanted a challenge. What would be the fun in playing a game where everything you think would happen in it happens. That would be boring. Kirito expected this to be challenging.

And a whole lot of fun.

---

Well, he could definitely say the dungeon was challenging. After countless of hours, Kirito had made it to the end.

Kirito was at the chest that would conclude part one of the secret dungeon. It was the chest that SHOULD have high level armor. It was perfect for him considering it was light armor. He lifted his hand up into the menu signal and just dropped his arm to open it. He was tired. Moving was currently a struggle. Looking at the in-game clock he saw that it took over twenty four hours to get to this point. But if the same gear that used to be in the chest was still inside, it would all be worth it.

He knew this wasn't a trap. If he was wrong, he had an escape route. He still had to be quiet though. There were level twenty two grass monsters just outside this room. They were super dangerous. They threw leaves that were sharper than needles. If one pierced him, there was a good change he'd die. He leveled up five times in here which made him level eleven. Even though he was nearly twice the level he was when he started, he knew he couldn't beat several level twenty two monsters. He told himself, "know your limits". Wise words. If you didn't know your limits, you'll bite off more than you can chew and kill yourself.

Kirito slowly made his way towards the chest. Slowly opening it.

The item screen appeared.

Items Received:

«Leather Chest of Defiance»

«Pants of Defiance»

«Gloves of Defiance»

«Boots of Defiance»

A tired smirk of victory appeared on Kirito's face. Yes, looking at the armor and its stats, they was exactly the same as they were in the beta. He definitely needed this gear too. All his gear he walked in with was shattered. His boots were gone, gloves nowhere to be seen, light armor broken. He was left in just his black sweatshirt, pants, and socks. Even his «Anneal Blade +2» was near depleted of it's life. Pretty soon it was gonna shatter as well. His smirk fell. Not only was he reminded of his decrepit weapon but he realized that he still had to walk all the way out of here and then back to «Tolbana». Teleporting crystals don't show up on the first few floors so teleporting back into town was out.

Kirito gave an exasperated sigh. He would have to avoid as much confrontation as possible. That also meant he would be taking the safe routes back. The safe routes meant the long routes.

It was gonna be a long walk.

---

Kirito's feet ached. It took awhile but he finally walked through the gates of «Tolbana» after his long travel. True to his word, the safe routes took him an extra hour of walking but at least his sword was still alive. It was still nighttime out. Or rather, it was the next nighttime.

He was tired. He just wanted to go to bed. He was running on fumes now. Feet feeling like anchors, he made his way back to the inn he'd already paid for ahead of time.

Closing the door, Kirito didn't even take off his sword as he dropped face first into his bed, out like a light.

---

When Kirito awoke, he felt extremely refreshed. Letting out a big yawn and stretching his arms, he looked at his menu clock and seen that he had slept for twelve hours. If it was any other day then Kirito would of been angry because he wasted grinding time but after what happened yesterday, he didn't mind.

He scrolled through his menu to look at his newly obtained items. First, the Defiance gear. It was high leveled. Higher than any equipment he'd actually seen inside the game. The armor would at least last up to floor ten. It'd probably hold up closer to floor twenty.

The leather chest, gloves, and boots were all azure in color. They were embroidered in black stitching that was super comfortable. The pants were the same except they were black embroidered with azure stitching. He put them on. Like most light armor, the chest was sleeveless and showed his black sleeves on his normal sweatshirt.

All in all, the gear looked super fancy. If any other player saw him in it, they would no doubt approach him. Either wanting to know how he got it or any tips on playing because he was obviously a beta tester. He didn't want any of that. It's actually the sole reason why he never used it in the beta, only equipping it in inns like this one.

He didn't want ANYONE knowing how he'd gotten his hands on stuff like this. Course, now that he was trapped in the game, he'd end up showing it eventually, but not yet. It was too soon to show anyone that he had it. He could equip and use it out on the fields where no one was around but inside towns, he'll have to switch to store bought armor.

Kirito didn't want to waste money on store bought equipment but he had no choice. If he wanted to stay invisible to people, he would have to look like them. Well, he didn't know what they looked liked but he assumed they would wear store bought gear. There was only so much stuff to go around so not every player would have gear from quests or monster drops.

The second item he looked at was the ring he had received. Rings were not even suppose to be in the game until floor five. He didn't even find it while he was in the beta. It was a nice find but he almost missed it. The ring was hanging from the ceiling on a string. He only barely saw it out of the corner of his eye and had to parkour his way up the bumpy walls to get to it. Luckily, he retrieved the item safely.

The rings in the beta were pretty garbage. They normally gave +1 in defense or strength. Better ones were probably +2 strength and +2 defense. Still, they did help boost stats and were almost weightless so they weren't useless. Looking at this ring's abilities he seen that they were incredible. It was called «Ring of Charos». It gave +4 to all of his stats. Very good for a ring. It also had a special ability. It allowed the user to "charm" anyone. It wouldn't work on real people but on npcs. It meant that if the user talked to an npc with the ring equipped, they would automatically be nicer to them. Npcs who sold items would even give the user discounts or even free handouts! Even if Kirito eventually got a better ring, this one would never lose it's benefactor.

Kirito was definitely keeping this item.

Scrolling through his menu, Kirito began to look at the other items he received during the dungeon. He had a bunch of col so there was no need to worry about that anytime soon. He had a bunch of high level materials. He couldn't use any for his sword because they weren't the right ones but he could still sell some and get profit from that. 'I'll sell the weaker and unneeded materials and keep the rest. They'll be useful in the future.' Kirito planned ahead. He could use some of the materials to upgrade the «Queen's Knightsword» when he got it. They could be used for other things as well.

He closed his inventory and went to his character stats. After all that leveling, he had a bunch of points to spend in stats. Leveling in SAO was simple. Every time you leveled up, your base stats increased by a small margin. The player would also receive five points that they could spend on their stats to also increase them. Average video gamers would always even out their stats. Defense, health, strength, and agility would all be about the same. That wasn't the best way to play SAO. It was best to choose what role you plan to play and then put your points into the necessary stats. Kirito assumed now that SAO was a death game, most people would probably dump points into health and defense.

That would be a pretty stupid move. Sure you would be safe, but not invincible. They could still die on a boss or a tough mob. Kirito didn't plan on playing like that. He wanted to hit hard and fast. He would leave stuff like defense and health to the equipment he wore. Pretty much all armor gives defense and health but barely any give speed or strength. He would spend three points on his strength and two on agility for every level he gained. His defense may not be the greatest, but he would never have to worry if his enemies couldn't hit him.

Kirito took off the Defiance armor and put his normal clothes back on. Just in case a player snuck up on him, he didn't want them seeing what he had. He closed his menu and stepped outside the inn. Just as he expected, no one was here. 'Looks like I still got some time to myself.' Kirito was sure going to miss these moments.

He walked to the general store placing the «Ring of Charos» on. He sold the materials he didn't need and the npc actually gave him 25% more than they were worth! When he bought himself some cheap leather armor, it was given to him half off!

This ring truly was incredible. He was glad he spotted it while inside the dungeon. Kirito equipped his newly bought armor, finally having boots on instead of walking around in just socks. He began to walk to the blacksmith to repair his sword. The previously grumpy npc was a lot nicer this time around and repaired his sword for free saying "Just this once." Kirito could definitely get used to this.

He reequipped his fully repaired weapon and began walking towards his next quest. There were still a few quests in «Tolbana» that were worth doing. Glancing at his top left, he looked at his health bar. It was very satisfying to see his hp over a thousand and his level at eleven.

It had only been about nine days since everything started. Kirito had gotten himself to level eleven, some overpowered armor, a fantastic ring, and an «Anneal Blade +2».

It was good to be him.