This world is not reality, but a virtual reality world, a game world called "Sword Art Online".

Players need to wear special hardware called "brainwave equipment" and enter a world of 100 levels through full immersion, and integrate all the senses of the brain into the game to play, which is an unprecedented fully immersive MMORPG.

Full immersion means that instead of starting a console, holding a gamepad button or joystick, you send your brain's senses directly into the game world to play.

Players can walk, run, jump, and even feel the flavor in the game.

Being able to truly jump into the world of the game is a slogan that has never existed before, and it is enough to make players all over Japan rejoice and flock to buy "brainwave equipment".

The "Brainwave Equipment" sold 10,000 units at major electrical stores and game sales stores across the country, but it was sold out almost instantly because of the desire of players to dive into the game world.

It is said that the sales rate of game software and hardware exceeded that of previous sales, and it is said to be the fastest selling speed in Heisei history.

Players who get this gear happily jump into another real world in the game.

Of course, I'm one of the players.

It was one person who created this incredible world.

That person's name was Akihiko Kayaba.

He was a key figure in the growth of a small and medium-sized game development company into the largest corporation, a young genius game designer and quantum physicist.

And the director of the development of this game "Sword Art Online" is also the basic designer of "brainwave equipment", a person who is called an "outrageous scientist".

As a gamer, I have a lot of admiration for him.

I would buy the magazines he was involved in and read the interviews over and over again until I could remember every sentence.

But what Akihiko Kayaba did later, what was done in the game, they found out later.

And when they were enjoying the game and were about to log out, they realized that the logout button didn't exist, and the players were in a state of extreme confusion.

And when the player starts asking what is going on, how to log out, there are constant sounds from all corners, and the whole game world is swept up in it.

Players are gathered in a plaza to learn first-hand from Kayaba himself what he has become and what exactly he is doing.

For those who are confused because players can't log out, Kayaba said.

Not being able to log out is exactly the original rule of Sword Art Online, and if you want to log out, you must reach the top floor of this castle, which is the 100th floor, and defeat the final boss there in order to clear the game.

If your stamina drops to zero on the way, high-powered electromagnetic waves will be emitted from the brainwave equipment, burning the brain and stopping vital activity. You must not die or die, and your physical strength must not be reduced to zero, and you must continue to rise from the 1st floor to the 100th floor.

The moment they heard this, the players were overwhelmed by despair and fear.

This is like the death sentence from Akihiko Kayaba, who is admired by the gamekeepers and players.

What was originally just a game for enjoyment unknowingly took over our lives, announcing that it could be crushed at any time.

Speaking of which, Kayaba once said something like this in an interview: "It's a game, but it's not a joke. ”

I see, I gained a strange sense of identity in the chaos.

I intuitively felt that the longed-for grass field turned into a terrifying killer who could trap 10,000 players in a death game.

However, I am no longer confused.

From the moment I first entered this game, I felt that this game was no longer just a game, but another reality.

And this point of view was affirmed by Akihiko Chewba himself.

This world has become another reality, no, reality itself, to be precise.

However, the world that players really belong to is not this world, not the love of Kinklad created by Akihiko Kayaba, but the real world.

In order to return to the real world, players have to clear the boss of this game.

Whether it was driven by the will of being a gamer or driven by the desire to return to reality, I still don't know, but in any case, I was driven by a desire to clear this game and prove myself, squeezing out the chaotic players and stepping out of the realm.

On such a day, about a year later, December 24, 2023.

I walked alone in the snow-covered forest, leaving footprints.

A few hours ago, I entered this 35-story Lost Forest to fight a boss that would drop certain items, and I won.

The item this boss holds is a resurrection spaystone, which has the power to resurrect players who die in the game.

I lost someone important before coming here to look for this item.

It was because of my pride and negligence that five important people died.

No, it's not that they're dead, it's me who killed them.

One of them looked at me as he was dying and said something.

The words that come out on the verge of death must be some kind of curse or curse or something.

However, no matter how unheard of the curse or curse, I longed to hear that sentence, and in order to make the player's resurrection item useable, I desperately leveled up to meet the conditions to obtain it, while enduring the curses of the players around me, and finally reached this event.

As a result, everything is in vain. Scarred...... Defeated the boss while taking a lot of damage, and obtained the item Resurrection Zodez.

The item's description states that it only works for 10 seconds after the player dies.

The effect is only 10 seconds...... The person I wanted to protect had passed away about half a year ago.

Therefore, even if you use it, it will have no effect.

After the cold expository text, I subconsciously smashed at the prop and slashed it with my sword, trying to destroy it, but failed to do so, and eventually took it back.

I was tired of everything, let out a beastly roar, and rolled around.

After that, everything became empty, and I eventually started walking towards town. If you stay here, you will only be eroded by emptiness.

What do the people I want to protect think when they are dying? Countless resentments against me. Speak ill of us. Or is it a thousand curses or something......

I was filled with such thoughts, and in my faint consciousness, as I walked through the lush, peaceful forest, I suddenly heard a loud noise.

The body produces a huge creature that makes a sound from deep within the abdomen. Is this the roar of a monster.

It's true that this is the domain of monsters, so it's not strange to hear the roar of monsters, but is there a monster that makes such a sound?

I looked around blankly as I felt an unusual aura.

Since my search skills are higher than those of ordinary people, I was able to perceive the unique aura emanating from the monster when I approached the location of the monster.

However, the breath is quite strong. The monster that emits this aura should be an intermediate boss level. It is likely that such a monster exists nearby. But why do such monsters appear at such a time?

I put my hand on the hilt of my sword behind my back, looked around, and immediately found the source of the sound.

Deep in the forest to my right, a monster with a clearly different vibe from its surroundings, eyes on me, rested there silently.

When I looked at its face, it was surrounded by snow-white hair, huge wings grew from its back, a wolf-like silhouette, and a horn similar to a giant sword near what humans call its forehead, and it was a four-legged dragon.

"Wolf's, dragon...?"

Having lived in this world for about a year now, I have seen and fought all kinds of monsters, and I have seen several different types of dragons, but this is the first time I have seen such a dragon with my own eyes.

Information about monsters can sometimes be found in the intelligence house, but never seen information about dragons like that.

No, maybe I didn't notice their presence.

"What's that guy......"

The dragon moved its footsteps slowly, approaching me.

As I got closer and closer to the face of a dragon I'd never seen before, I couldn't help but feel a chill on my back.

I'm used to dragons, and I'm not surprised or frightened by dragons in general, but this one obviously has a different temperament. From the atmosphere to the appearance, everything is different from a normal dragon. Still, from the outside, it's still a monster. It must have been intended to attack me.

As I pondered, the white dragon had already come to me. I heard a trembling sound completely different from that of a human, and looked up, my black eyes almost meeting the red of its wolf.

Immediately they will bite me or scratch me with their sharp claws, or breathe fire from their mouths. In this game, the dragon is mainly based on attacks of flames, claws, and teeth, and there is no doubt that it will launch such an attack to kill me.

I couldn't protect the people I was supposed to protect, and I became crazy about chasing the props of the resurrection, like a crazy clown. It might as well be burned to death by its flames, or torn to death by its claws and teeth. After all, it was also waiting for an opportunity to attack me.

It should attack immediately. I'm ready to fight, ready to attack...... It should be, but the white dragon standing in front of me showed no signs of attacking. It just stared at me silently, not moving or speaking.

“......?“

It did not attack. Even though I was a monster, I didn't attack me as an enemy.

Isn't it a monster? Or is it some kind of event? I've gathered some activity information from that well-informed intelligence house, but the game has a lot of activity, and there may be some that I haven't discovered.

Is this some type of event?

Does encountering an unknown dragon trigger some kind of event?

Despite this thought, nothing happened.

The white dragon stared at me silently, motionless.

Since it didn't strike, it must have been some kind of event, but what triggered it? Perhaps, I just need to take some kind of action to trigger an event.