NOVEL NEXT 56. Welcome to Aincrad.
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When the bright light slowly faded out, Kaito immediately notice the surrounding area is already different from the base world mansion. Right now, he was standing in some kind of center of the town, with a small clock tower in the middle and a lot of lamps also decorating the area.
There are also a lot of people surrounding, probably more than hundreds, wearing the same kind of leather armor... which looks like beginner armor in an RPG game.
Kaito then also takes a look at himself and realized that his appearance is also changed... with a weird green bar also appearing above his head. Instead of wearing a plain white t-shirt, what Kaito wears now is black cheap-looking leather armor, with a plain sword hanging on his waist. After looking above, He also noticed there was an iconic huge castle out of stone floating in the endless sky, which is immediately telling him where he is right now.
"Is this SAO world?" Kaito muttered, as there are no other plausible explanations for his situation.
...
"It seems we really transferred together." (Crocodile)
"All of our clothes are changed! This is leather armor like in the memories!" (Uta)
"Aside from changed appearance, it seems everyone also automatically gets a free sword in the beginning." (Mikoto)
"This is actually pretty cool..." (Erina)
...
Hearing familiar voices, Kaito quickly turn around and find all the other members who also appeared behind him one by one. Thankfully, It seems the system didn't scatter them around during the transfer. Kaito can't imagine how troublesome it would be if he need to find 16 different members scattered around this place, even with chat group help.
"Ah, everyone seems to be here." Kaito quickly greet other members and then asked, "Does anyone feel any discomfort or difference during the transfer?"
...
"My golden hook is gone and I can't really use my devil fruit ability" Crocodile said as he raised his left hand, replaced by a normal hand.
"My illness... is gone? But I also can't feel chakra or activated my eyes" Itachi muttered, feeling nothing uncomfortable from his current body.
"I... can talk... without affecting anything or having side effects? I can't feel my ability affecting me anymore." Yuu replied with a clear surprised tone, but there is a hint of happiness in her voice.
"I can't use any magic either. I also feel my body is a bit sluggish and that probably hindered my maid job quite a bit until I am able to adapt" Sakuya reported.
"I can't feel my magic power... And I also can't access my inventory where I store my 'Raising Heart' too..." Nanoha added.
"Umu... I feel a lot slower and weaker in this world otherwise I feel just normal." Saitama followed.
...
Hearing all of the member's answers, it seems the system didn't lie about any of the special ability worked in this world. At that moment Kaito also tried to activate [Eight Gates] ability or even just tried to spread his devil wing, only to find that it doesn't work at all. For once, Kaito feels like he just come back to his old human body... which feels very weak compared to being a devil.
Surprisingly, the system also took away some of the members ' disadvantaged situations' such as Itachi's illness or Yuu's complicated side effect of the ability which is a very good thing to hear.
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"Oii, that girl... She looks like an idol..." (Player A)
"Different hair color? Is there such customization on our body creation?" (Player B)
"Why someone would set himself as a bald person?" (Player C)
...
"We probably better move, Kaito-san" Robin suggested to Kaito, as she notice a lot of people begin to take notice of their group.
It seems 17 people who are close to each other in one place are bound to gather attention... even in a crowded place. Especially when there are some people who have a unique appearance, like Saitama's bald head or Uta's unique hair color and style that looks very different from other players.
Looking at his surrounding, Kaito quickly agree with Robin's suggestion and then explained, "First, I think we need to test how combat in this world worked and then sorted a plan after looking at the optional task. According to the memories, the best way to do that obviously is to find the empty monster field far outside the town, where we can test all of our abilities freely without being disturbed by others."
"Very good plan, Kaito-san" (Miya)
"Good idea, Kaito" (Mikoto)
"Lead the way, Owner." (Crocodile)
...
Hearing Kaito's explanation, all of the members agree to follow his plan and then quietly followed him from behind.
While on it, Kaito also didn't forget to check the surrounding atmosphere in the beginner town. He quickly deduces that the current time is before Kayaba announces the death game itself as no players seem panic or depressed inside the game.
This means there is plenty of time for them to learn the basic attack mechanic of this world before the mass panic happen. Kaito remember the moment Kayaba Akihiko announce this world would become a sort of death game, later on, every town and monster field on the first floor would be flooded with players that tried to monopoly them, realizing the resources would become scarce very soon.
Because of that, Kaito was aware that they need to adapt to this world as quickly as possible to monopoly the area and secure resources in the early game.
It might sound like not a good thing to do, but Kaito thing that's what must they do in order to survive and have a great chance to develop and finish this death game faster in the future.
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After walking for a while, all the chat group members finally arrived at the monster field, a plain with no other players close to them since they walked a bit far away from the town of the beginning.
"I think this is a good location" Kaito said while also noticing a lot of boar spawned around them. Similar to the memories, the location they were currently standing now is a sort of plain grassland on the west of the town of the beginning, with amazing scenery surrounding them.
"So, we are going to test how fight worked here, Owner?" Crocodile asked.
"Yep. I know almost all of you have seen the memories, which means you are all probably vaguely aware of how the skill worked" Kaito answered, then he turned around and asked, "Miya-san, can you give it a try using a skill?"
Kaito pointed his finger toward random Frenzy boar that spawn not far away from him, telling his Sekirei to try to attack it. He could give an example by himself, but he choose to ask Miya since her swordsmanship skill well known are much better than his.
"Yes, Kaito-san."
Getting ordered by her beloved Sekirei, Miya take a step forward and then unsheathed her sword.
Remembering the memories she watched last night, Miya know that the first step was to think of activating a skill. Shortly after, her sword begins to glow in the light, which is a sign of the skill being activated. After that, Miya proceeds to release the skill toward the enemy, passing through the boar and defeating it with one clean hit.
*Slash*
...!!
Followed by that, a sound similar to breaking glass could be heard from the monster, as it broke into an infinite polygon and disappeared. A purple number immediately appeared in front of Miya, showing how many experiences and Cor (currency inside SAO) she got from defeating her enemy.
Meanwhile, after seeing Miya's performance, several members immediately clap their hands in applause because the movement she did just now looked really cool in their eyes.
*Clap* *Clap*
"That's so cool, Miya-san!" Misaka Mikoto exclaimed.
"I want to try!" Nanoha followed.
"Um. It looks cooler than my punch." Saitama added.
...
Ignoring the member's excitement, Kaito quickly asked, "How it is, Miya-san? Did the skill release procedure differ from the memories?"
"No. It's the same." Miya shook her head and continue to explain, "All you just need to do was to think of the skill... the moment you feel it... Just release it."
Confirming her answer, Kaito turns around to everyone and orders, "Now, I want everyone to defeat the monster in this area on their own to get used of how to fight in this world so any of us could have a better chance to survive in this world."
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Hearing Kaito's order, all the chat group members quickly complied, and scattered around the field as they looked for their respective enemies. They were aware of the fact that they are here because of the group task, and none of them wanted to be a burden.
After a few minutes of testing, the result was surprisingly not bad. Most members were able to activate the skill on the first try and defeat their enemy without a problem at all. Out of 16 members, only 4 people have a problem defeating their first fight in this world due to their own circumstances.
Those members are Saitama who never used a sword in the first place (always uses a punch in a fight), Uta who basically never swings a sword (her combat experience mostly just singing with her devil fruit), and then Erina with her secretary who never had a fighting experience in the first place, being born in a peaceful world (both of them just a normal student).
Fortunately, the members who already understand the combat mechanic like Miya and Itachi quickly help guide the members who are having a hard time learning... even though they literally spend an hour doing so.
...
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