《Sword Art Online》——

Three months ago, basically this term has never been removed from the hot search list, and it is a global heat, with all kinds of news every day, and countless media outlets are tracking and reporting one after another, intending to make it a long-term project topic.

After all, everyone thought that it was a next-generation game that could shock the world and attract global attention, but it really shocked the world and attracted global attention......

Although it is said that it was achieved in another way, for example, just a month after the game began to officially operate, the death list of more than 2,000 people was directly updated.

- It's not that the character dies in the game, but that it's a complete and permanent exit from the real world, and the number is deleted directly.

This caused unimaginable panic and riots, after all, in wartime, even if thousands of people died every day as if they were harvesting wheat, no one cared, let alone cared.

But this is 2022, and it is definitely a peaceful era by and large, not to mention the death list of 2,000 people a month, and there are dozens or hundreds of casualties in a casual accident, which is enough to qualify as big news.

Not to mention that the deaths of these 2,000 people were all caused by the game...... This is because the principle of NERvGear is to emit faint electromagnetic waves through countless signal components buried inside to give brain cells a simulated sensation when they do something.

It can indeed be said that it is at the forefront of the times, but there is a product that is extremely close to the principle of this technology, which has appeared decades ago.

And it is a kind of household appliance that has been popularized in countless homes, that is, the microwave oven.

With sufficient power output, NERvGear can also cause the water in the user's brain cells to vibrate, and then steam their brain directly by friction to generate heat. This is the principle of the brain destruction program, which is very easy to understand and easy to understand.

But...... Being easy to understand doesn't mean that it can be solved just as easily, after all, Akihiko Aoba worked hard and secretly planned, so that a genius like him spent an unknown number of years just for this good show.

How could he not defend against the possibility of sabotaging his plans and forcing them to be aborted?

Whether it's cutting off the power or disconnecting the network, or forcibly destroying a gaming device or physically unlocking the lock, it's all possible. Either way, the device can't be disarmed faster than it can roast the user's brain.

Truth be told, a large part of the reason why more than 2,000 people die in a month is that most of them don't lose battles in the game and then get killed.

Rather, it was like the first unlucky 200 people who died at the hands of their parents and relatives.

After all, there may really be very stupid people, after discovering that the only way to get out of this game is to clear the level, they immediately can't wait to go out to kill monsters, and then fall unlucky in the wild.

But there may be such people, but there are definitely not many of them, because more people are greedy for life and afraid of death, and they are not willing to believe, but they are worried about the worst direction of development.

So I'd rather huddle in a safe zone and look at the limelight first, maybe in just a few days, the people outside will already have a way?

This is the idea and choice of most people, and Akihiko Kayaba did not get so mad as to directly cancel the safe zone and kill them all......

It's a pity that when people are unlucky, they will stuff their teeth when they drink cold water, and they are obviously hiding in the safe zone, waiting for the people of the outside world to take measures to save them...... As a result, what I was waiting for was directly deleted.

Without any warning, the brains of their real-world bodies are roasted.

What makes sense of this?

In the end, there is still no way to solve the problem from the outside. To make matters worse, there is also no information coming in from the outside.

When they finally believe that there is no way out of this world, the panic of the players can be described as extremely crazy. Some people yelled, some people cried, and some even yelled to destroy the game world-

It's just that buildings and the like are all set up to be indestructible objects, and their attempts and anger are nothing more than futile fury of impotence. But one way or another, everyone has to accept this fact.

They have to think about how to survive in this game world, and they have to think about how to escape......

Even in this virtual game world, there are still two physiological needs: sleep and appetite. And they can't live forever with the initial funds alone, so they are forced to start taking action.

Probably because humans are habitual animals, adaptability is the only commendable trait.

After more than a month, the players finally succeeded in conquering the first layer, which was the lowest level where they were at the beginning, and after successfully breaking through the second layer in just ten days, the death toll was significantly reduced.

All kinds of information that helps to survive are passed to all corners, and everyone finds that as long as they do accumulate experience points to increase their level, monsters seem to be ...... Actually, it's not that scary.

As long as you can fully play through the game, it is possible to return to the real world.

Before, I thought there was no hope, but now the number of players who hold this idea is beginning to increase little by little.

Although they were still quite far away from the hundredth floor of the top layer, they took their meager hope as the driving force and launched their actions-

The world is finally getting moving.

This is the current state of Aingrande.

However, just when the players felt as if they had seen hope, Akihiko Kayaba, the instigator behind the scenes, began to feel satisfied with the "world" that he had created and was working......

The indescribable chaos from the foreign land is also taking root in the underlying data of this world, and because it has received sufficient "nutrients", it flows freely and spreads quietly.

In just one month, two thousand people died.

Whether it is the madness of the victims before they die, the strong resentment against the mastermind behind the scenes, or even the unwillingness and revenge born from anger to others......

Or is it the extreme fear of other people, the twisted guilt of not being able to save a friend, the resistance to the world and the psychological trauma that has been caused......

Anger and hatred, fear and hatred, and hysterical madness in the face of death......

These strong and almost substantial negative wills can be called the complete embodiment of the evil of human nature. These "nutrients" are so abundant that seeds that should have taken longer to mature...... The entire growth process was completed ahead of schedule.

A large number of dark emotions, distorted psychological shadows, and negative wills are combined with the nightmare seeds spread by evil gods, and they continue to grow. The strangeness of its blending has become more and more heretical and evil because of this.

And the unspeakable chaos is not just giving birth to tangible weirdness, but also changing the setting of the entire game world. This was supposed to be an "erosion" that would have happened much later.

But the fear, madness, reluctance, resentment, and negative emotional effects of their death on other living people have greatly accelerated this process.

After only a month, the game was branded with a malicious mod and directly updated to another new version.

……

……

After passing through the steppe in the twilight, the dense primeval forest appeared in front of the group's eyes.

The ancient trees are towering to the sky, covering the sky and the sun, and it looks very eerie and terrifying.

The dense mist that flows between the trunks of the trees shimmers mystically behind the reflection of the rays of the sunset. The noisy birdsong during the day also becomes sparse at this time, making the treetops swaying in the wind particularly loud.

“……”

“……”

The group of players didn't think much about it, just glanced at each other, confirmed the direction, and continued to hurry.

It was already evening, and they wanted to get back to the safe zone as quickly as possible, so they had to go through the portal. It was a bit difficult to walk on just one pair of legs, and I was afraid that it would be midnight when I returned to town.

But the nearest portal is set in the forest, and not everyone has a teleportation item, which is a bit expensive, and even if it does, it will only be used at critical times.

It's probably because of the pictures that have been brushed for a day, and it's all physical work, so everyone is also tired, and they just silently bow their heads and hurry.

After all, the game directly abolished the skills of long-range attacks such as magic and kite flying, and only retained the sword skill system, at most, there are throwing skills such as throwing knives that are better than nothing.

Therefore, the exhausted crowd did not realize that the surrounding scenery gradually became a little wrong...... This is actually quite normal, not everyone has that insight and can recognize the inconspicuous changes in the environment at a glance.

As the sun sets under the precise control of the day-night system, so does the night.

A white mist fills the forest, obscuring the view.

Slowly, even the most dull people have noticed that something is wrong, why haven't they seen the portal yet? They're probably going in the wrong direction and going too far, right?

"Hmm...... It seems to be going in the wrong direction, but it shouldn't be! ”

Someone waved his hand, trying to dispel the white fog in front of him, but it had no effect, so he put down his hand again.

They weren't scared of the situation, and while they hadn't seen a sudden fog in the vicinity of the teleportation area at night, the physics of the world were very real.

After more than a month, everyone has already subconsciously regarded this game as a real world, and they don't feel that there is anything abnormal about this meteorological change.

What really unsettled them was that they seemed to have gone in the wrong direction, and they weren't sure which way to go.

Of course, it's not a big deal.

The experienced captain of the team, after confirming the direction, estimated according to his intuition, and led everyone through the forest in the thick fog.

"Follow me, it should be this side...... Well, I'm not sure, and it might be better to wait for the fog to clear and then head the map, but it's getting late, so let's see if we can get back on the right path. ”

The result, of course, is no.

When the fog cleared, and they came out of it, there was a completely unfamiliar sight in front of them—

The weeds were messy, the tombstones were lined and scattered, and the huge coffins were entwined with vine branches......

"What kind of place is this? Is it shown on the map? ”

"A hidden place in the forest?"

"There seems to be a display...... This is the Ash Graveyard? ”

While everyone was bewildered and talking, there were also people among Ayn Grant who encountered strange white mist in various places, and then disappeared in the fog.

But it's not a direct death, and it's not out of the entire game world, it's still on the player list.

Coupled with the fact that this is not a large-scale phenomenon, Akihiko Kayaba did not notice any problems, after all, it is impossible for the administrator to be idle to monitor the specific status of each player anytime and anywhere.

In addition, he has to maintain his disguise, and as a player, he also has all kinds of things to do, such as farming monsters, leveling up, crafting equipment, and maintaining interpersonal relationships, so he can't spare time.

He created this world to realize his dreams, so although his character has permission, he will not easily open the cheat, and all kinds of things still need to be worked on by himself.

It's just that it is precisely because of this that he was unknowingly exploited.

By the time he reacted, he might already be a bare-bones commander.