"Jingle Bell...... The sound of "jingle ......" sounded like an alarm, breaking the silence of the night.

"What's going on?"

Zeyi looked around with puzzled amber eyes, surprised.

His entire body was surrounded by a pillar of blue light. Looking out through this blue film, I can only see that the scenery of the grassland is fading, and the blue light around me becomes more dazzling.

And then—

As the blue glow faded, Zeyi could finally see the scenery around her again.

But he found that he was no longer in the grassland under the sunset.

What you can see now is a large stone floor, surrounded by street trees, and a chic, medieval street.

In the distance, there is also a huge palace that glows black.

Standing in the unknown central square, Zeyi looked at the confused face of the person next to him.

Around them, there is a group of men and women with clear eyebrows, and looking at the various equipment and hair colors on their bodies, you can be sure that they are all players of this SAO game. It looks like there are almost 10,000 people.

After a short silence, there was a lot of noise, and all kinds of doubts continued.

However, they were all pressed down by the words "look above".

Zeyi looked up.

One hundred meters above the sky, the bottom of the second layer, is dyed with a bright red checkerboard-like pattern.

If you look closely, you can see that the pattern is formed by the interaction of two English words. As for the two words written in bright red fonts, they are "Warning" and "System Announcement".

As it appeared, of course, the noise in the square subsided, and it felt like everyone was pricking up their ears to hear the announcement. However, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectations.

A red pattern that covers the entire sky, the central part of it is like a huge drop of blood that is quite thick, slowly dripping downward.

But instead of dripping to the ground, the blood suddenly changed shape in mid-air.

Appearing there was a giant nearly twenty meters tall and wearing a crimson cloak.

No, that's a bit incorrect. Because you can see the face inside the hat that is pulled very low.

However, there was no face in that area, and the whole part was hollow, and even the inside of the hat and the stitching on the edge could be clearly seen. And inside the long drooping hem, there is also only a slight darkness.

This strange phenomenon makes some players with fragile hearts full of uneasiness.

This normal RPG game is gradually becoming weird, and that weirdness is the first to crush the fragile sanity of some players.

Through the enlarged cuffs, you can see the pure white gloves. However, the sleeves and gloves are also clearly separated from each other, and the flesh is completely invisible.

Then the left sleeve was slowly raised. On the heads of the ten thousand players, the empty white gloves spread to the left and right, and it felt like the faceless man was opening his mouth, and then immediately a man's low, penetrating voice came from far above.

"Fellow players, welcome to my world."

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And the only one who can control the world now. ”

quiescence

The silence of the central square, with not even the slightest sound from the player, is terrifying to watch.

"I think you've all noticed that the logout button disappears from the main menu. But that's not what's wrong with the game. I repeat it again. This is not a problem with the game, but the original version of Sword Art Online. ”

"From now on, you won't be able to log out of this game on your own until you reach the top of this castle."

“…… In addition, there is no way to rely on an outside party to stop or deactivate the operation of NERvGear. If anyone tries to do that—"

Hearing this, the players all had gloomy faces, and some ominous premonition flashed in their hearts.

At this time, Akihiko Kayaba's deep voice, like the death knell of death, sounded again.

"—The microwaves emitted by the NERvGear's signaling components will destroy your brains and stop your life."

Cessation of life means death.

"What a joke!"

"Let us go!"

Voices of commotion were heard from all parts of the crowd, but Akihiko Kayaba apparently ignored them, and in order to increase his persuasiveness, he swiped his finger in the air, and various news reports from the real world appeared one by one.

They are like a poisonous spike, piercing the player's eyes and hearts with an irresistible force, making the player's brain almost stop thinking and breathing.

The sky above the central square is gloomy, and the demon named Fear is unleashing his power to wipe out the players' sanity and hope.

What scares them even more is their real body. Because they can't be sure whether their relatives and friends will pull out the power in a hurry.

Their fear has made them stop trusting anyone, not even their own loved ones, and they fear that they will follow in the footsteps of the dead player.

But alas, their lives are not in their own hands.

As if hearing the panic in the hearts of the players, the hoarse sound of metal sounded again.

"You don't have to worry about your body in the real world. All the television, radio, and online media are now reporting on this situation and the situation where most of the victims appeared.

Therefore, the danger of the NERvGear being forcibly removed from your head can be said to have been reduced to a fairly low level.

In the future, your body in the real world should be transported to a hospital or other facility during the two-hour disconnection buffer time while wearing the NERvGear, and then carefully cared for.

We hope you can rest assured...... Just put your mind on the strategy game. ”

In the blood-red world, a female voice suddenly sounded.

"Nope! That's not true! ”

A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and this sharp and piercing cry broke the silent square.

The demon of fear seemed to laugh wildly in the air, rejoicing in the spread of panic. And the mortals below it, like madmen, ran to the edge of the square, hoping to break through the demon's cage.

It's a pity that this kind of behavior is just a waste of energy, and the outside of the square is still the Sword Art Domain, and they have been trapped in this hell, and no one can escape.

When vulnerable players run to the edge with their last hope, they find an invisible barrier blocking their tracks. They lay on their stomachs at the edge of the barrier, with their pale and feeble arms, waving invisible cages, despair echoing on their faces like faithful believers.

At this time, as if to overwhelm the players' last straw, the voice of all evil sounded again.

"However, I hope you will pay special attention. For you, Sword Art Online is no longer just a game, it's another real world.

Henceforth...... All resurrection functions will be removed from the game. So when your HP goes to zero, your characters will be wiped out forever, and you will ......"

Without being reminded by Akihiko Kayaba, a sentence came to the minds of all players, and that sentence exploded in the hearts of players like God's judgment on the ugly world.

"Your brains will be destroyed by NERvGear."

This time, the chaos disappeared as if it had never existed.

The players' hearts were numb, and their eyes stared at the dark red figure with empty eyes.

Of course, among them, there are also some players who remain calm all the time (such as Zei and Kirito), not infected by the atmosphere of fear around them, they stand there quietly, waiting for Akihiko Kayaba's next words.

"Finally, let us show you that this world is the only reality for you. In your inventory, there's a gift I've prepared. Please take a look. ”

Hearing this, Zeyi's right hand waved directly down almost automatically. The surrounding players did the same, and a series of electronic ringtone effects rang out in the square.

After tapping the tab of the inventory from the main menu that appears, the top of the list of items displayed shows the gift that Kayaba said.

The name of the item is "Holding a Small Mirror".

He tapped the name with his trembling right hand, and selected the materialized button from the emerging window.

Accompanied by a glowing effect, a small quadrangular mirror immediately appeared.

Trembling and holding it in his hand, the Ruff next to him and the surrounding players were suddenly shrouded in white light.

At the same time, Zeyi was also surrounded by white light, and all he saw in his eyes was pale.

In just two or three seconds, the light disappeared and the original scenery reappeared......

At the same time, Zeyi saw that he had returned to his original appearance in the mirror.

"This is based on that gauge adjustment?"

Looking around, the player, who was still rich and handsome just now, became poor and frustrated in a second. The most terrifying thing is that the ratio of men to women is out of balance in an instant.

This can't help but make Zeyi sigh that there are as many women's clothing bosses as dogs.

At this time, Zeyi and all the players around him have changed from the characters they created to the appearance in the real world. Although it is still made of polygonal materials, the subtleties are still a bit strange, but it can still be said to be quite a great level of simulation.

That's ...... the game description for the official operation of "Sword Art Online". Fellow players – good luck. ”

The last sentence had some echoes and then disappeared.

The huge bright red cloak rose silently, starting at the tip of the hat, and gradually assimilated with the system message that covered the entire sky as if it were dissolving.

Its shoulders, chest, and limbs slowly sank into the blood-red water, leaving only a ripple to spread. Then, the message that filled the sky suddenly disappeared as it had appeared.

The sound of the wind blowing over the square and the performance of the NPC orchestra, the BGM on the streets of the town gradually approached from afar, and it smoothly touched Zeyi's hearing.

The game is back to its original form. The only change is that some of the rules of the game have changed.

Death, becoming so near, beckoned right beside him.

"Liar, right...... What's going on, it must be a lie. ”

"No kidding! Let me out! Get me out of here!"

"Don't! Let me go back!"

……

All kinds of noisy invectives gradually surged around, hoping to alleviate the fear in their hearts, but it was in vain.

At this time, Zeyi came back to his senses, hesitated in his heart for a while, and then walked out of the circle.

It's not that he's afraid of death, it's that he understands that instead of wailing here, it's better to desperately strengthen himself.

Taking advantage of the fact that the vast majority of players are now in confusion and fear, go to the next leveling point as soon as possible to seize the opportunity.

In this world of limited resources, whoever has the first opportunity means who has more information, stronger equipment, and a higher chance of survival.

Of course, more importantly -

He wanted to find his companions as soon as possible.