- The first floor of "Ayn Grant", the street at the entrance of "The Beginning Town".

"Wait, wait! Xiao Zhi! Don't bring that stuff here!! ”

Constantly backing away, the long-haired girl shouted to the short-haired girl in front of her, who seemed to have brought something with her.

"But Sister Lan! I don't know how to get out of the fight—"

Dodging a puddle of slime that shot at her feet, the short-haired girl's face turned ugly again.

If it's monsters like those boars and wolves just now, the short-haired girl is confident that she can attack without hesitation.

But she can't physically accept this thing in front of her!

Buzzing and chasing after was a horde of wasp-like monsters about the size of a human's head.

Although it is also only Lv.1, this amount is enough to be fatal for novice players.

Not to mention the girl who already hates this kind of creature.

"Ah——!!!h

A wail rang out, and the two figures turned into pieces and disappeared in place.

The only thing to be thankful for is that SAO at this point in time has not yet been gamified by death.

*****************************************************************************************************

"Really...... Why are you cutting down that tree......"

Pale as she walked down from the resurrection point, the girl named "Blue" complained to the short-haired girl who had also just been resurrected.

She didn't want to go through this experience a second time.

"I'm sorry Sister Lan, but I just think it's too real here, so I can't help but want to try it......"

Looking at the "blue" in front of her, who had not yet recovered, the girl named "Lifa" was embarrassed and apologized.

"Alas......"

I can understand Lifa's unbearable feelings, so Blue has to sigh.

……

These two girls, who are novice players at first glance, are naturally Lanzi and Naoba who entered the game and wanted to surprise Yuki.

It's just that before going to find Yuki, they were also attracted by the uniqueness of this world, and decided to experience it by themselves for a while.

It's a pity that after a while, the two have already missed the time to 'go offline'.

"Okay, anyway, we're almost used to this mode of operation, so let's let Xiaoyou teach us later."

Glancing at the time, Lanzi noticed that they had been playing for hours before they knew it.

Maybe that's the beauty of this world.

"Well, my brother has been playing this game lately, and he seems to be playing pretty well, I'll ask him if he's free later."

After making a suggestion with a smile on the same face, Naoba pulled out his character interface and looked for the button to log out.

“……”

"Huh......?"

"What's wrong?"

Finding that Naoba's expression was troubled, Lanzi stepped forward and asked.

"That...... Sister Lan, do you know where the logout button is? ”

"Huh? I just seem to have seen it...... I remember the third one next to the character screen. ”

It's a little strange why Naoba asks like this, and Lanzi also opens his own interface to make a demonstration.

Unfortunately, she was not found.

——bug？

This thought invariably appeared in the minds of the two of them.

"Try to contact customer service, I'm going to go to Xiaoyou in the evening."

"Hmm...... I'm going to have to prepare dinner later. ”

Soon, though, the two girls didn't have a chance to worry about these little things anymore.

Because from the next moment, the world is not just a 'game' for entertainment.

““——？！” ”

The blue light flashed underneath their feet, and the two disappeared in place.

On this day, like countless players who were online at the time, Lanzi and Naoba were also trapped in this world.

*********************************************************************************************************

(What did you choose to enter this world for, is it really just curiosity...... ）

The humanoid monster's slash brushed by, leaving a red data scar on the orange-haired girl's face.

(Now, why did you leave the town's "safe zone" and come here, there is already a way to survive without risking.) ）

Ignoring the amount of health that had dropped to the yellow area, the flash began to converge on the sword, which was a sign of concentrating on the "Sword Skill".

(I picked up the sword, so that's it, right?) It's better to die with the monsters than to stay in the town and rot. ）

Constantly shouting in her heart, using the attack method of 'self-defeating', some 'rebellious' thin sword made the girl turn the monster in front of her into pieces.

Then, with no intention of returning to town, he began to continue walking towards the "safe zone" of the labyrinth.

……

"Dare to sleep in such a place, this sister won't have a lot of nerves......

“…… Don't say that! Xiao Zhi, it's too rude. ”

There was a voice in his ears, and the Rapier, who was lying on the cold floor, rested a little again.

"Ahh It seems to be awake. ”

“……”

When she opened her eyes, the rapier saw that the girl was looking at her curiously.

Judging from her appearance, she should be two years younger than her.

“…… What's the matter? ”

Some cold words came out of his mouth, obviously he was not such a character.

"Ah...... I'm sorry, it's just a little strange why sister, why would you sleep here, didn't the raider say that it's easy to refresh monsters near this safe zone, isn't it suitable for rest? ”

The long-haired girl, who looked a little more mature, spoke softly.

“…… They're going to die anyway, isn't it the same where to rest. ”

“……！”

(I'm really bad at saying such a thing to a girl younger than me...... ）

"If you want to get through this game, it's impossible to think about it, right?"

After saying this negatively to the two girls, the Rapier had no desire to continue talking.

Struggling to get up from the ground, it seems that he wants to continue his 'fight'.

But before she could take the next step, she fell down again when her spirit reached the limit.

The last thing I saw was the two girls running anxiously.

……

- The first floor of "Al Grande", the central plaza of "Torbana".

"Hey, you got it? The group of guys who just raided the team said ......! ”

"Really?!"

"Which team is it?"

"It's because I don't know each other, so everyone is talking about it!"

Because he couldn't worry about the girl who fainted in front of him, although the other party didn't seem to have much will to live, Naoba and Lanzi still managed to bring her back to the town.

But at this time, the atmosphere of the whole town seems to be completely different.

After checking with nearby players, they found out what was going on.

Someone cleared the first floor!

The girl who found that her eyes were closed was a little moved, and Lanzi, who knew that she seemed to be awake, did not dismantle it, but just smiled and encouraged.

"Well, now, it's okay to try to 'live' a little bit, right?"

“……”

"Hmmm......"

Someone murmured inaudibly.

"So, can you tell us your name?"

“…… Asuna. ”

……

At the beginning of that day, three girls who strayed into this world for different reasons officially began their adventure.