my slow journey to infinity

Chapter 6 No, you guys take turns playing with me... I just want to play games!

Wang Shui, who had a foul look on his face, stretched his waist, then continued to lower his head and write the information silently.

Slowly, darkness enveloped this huge "Starting Town". The street lights around the square lit up, and more than [-]% of the people around had left.

The players in the square just now were not all the 22 people.

In the information released before the official operation of the game, the public beta data of the floating city "Aincrad" has been adjusted. The radius of the first level has been increased to ten times the original, and the number of initial towns has been increased to six to accommodate an estimated maximum of 30 people. Thousands of players.

There are probably between [-] and [-] players in the Novice Village with Wang Shui, but I don't know if Kirito and the others are nearby.

The map area has become larger, there are more biomes, and it is said that there will be more tasks.

The gap from the closed beta is getting wider and wider, and the advantages of closed beta players may be compressed.

While thinking, Wang Shuiwen's writing work did not stop. Compared with the depression in his heart, he was more glad that he had entered the game.

If you don't participate in the game, the chance of death will probably be higher, and your death will be unclear.

The bell tower in the corner of the square rang twelve times, and the water regia came to an end.

The rough paper in front of me is covered with dense text. Because the writing is faster, very omitted continuous strokes are used in some places where the content is not important.

And where details are needed, there are even detailed pictures drawn with a red pen.

After eleven hours of non-stop writing, he obtained [-] pieces of precious information. It took Wang Shui some time to sort and stack them, and then he could no longer handle the high-intensity and high-pressure work of sorting out the information. , and fell heavily on the bench beside the square.

……

……

What wakes up Aqua Regia is the aroma of roasted grains.

The SAO virtual world will not starve to death. The fierce hunger will only torture the players all the time. The setting actually deducts the blood volume - huh?

Wang Shui was shocked when he saw his extremely slowly but surely declining HP and the shriveled stomach pattern next to him.

[Real] alienation label, this setting suddenly appeared in his mind.

By reality, do you mean the impact on this virtual world?
Wang Shui stumbled to the bakery that opened early, and then belatedly discovered the currency information under the item bar.

[Col: 0]

In the props list, there are only two pens that he spent all his initial funds to buy, a total of 400 pieces of low-quality paper, an initial small sword, and a simple pair of coarse cloth clothes.

You're not going to starve to death, are you? !This way of death is so cowardly!
By some strange coincidence, Wang Shui took out ten pieces of unused paper and numbly said to the puppet NPC in his subjective consciousness:

"Boss, I'm very hungry now but have no money. Can you exchange these papers for some food?"

Before Wang Shui realized that he was being stupid, the bakery owner, a thin middle-aged man with clean clothes and a brown goatee, frowned in a very humane manner, with an angry and helpless expression on his face.

"Is today's first business deal actually for you to barter? Hey, from the look of you, you seem to be a new adventurer. Do adventurers also lack this kind of money?"

Very smooth dialogue and language logic, Wang Shui opened his mouth, and suddenly wanted to ask if the NPC boss was played by a real person.

"Okay, okay, don't show such silly expressions in front of my store, otherwise others will think that you will become stupid after eating my bread. Alas, this is the smallest portion of whole wheat bread, and the price is lower than Ten sheets of paper is low, but I’m not short of paper here, would you like to exchange it?”

Wang Shui nodded quickly, then took the forearm-sized stick-shaped whole wheat bread and returned to the bench blankly.

Is this true?

Before entering this world, Wang Shui didn't pay much attention to the so-called alienation label, and the stall owner who sold his key didn't warn him...

Does the label have such a great impact on the plot? Then why didn’t the awakened people who came to explore it in the first two issues discover it?

Oh, right!They don't know the plot!

Wang Shui took a hard bite of the whole wheat bread, which was completely different from the food of the same name that Wang Shui had shared with his fitness colleagues before he came to this world.

It's sour, rough, hard to chew, and your mouth is suffering.

With the added softness and aroma of grains just out of the oven, aqua regia killed the opponent in a few gulps.

The negative status icon on the shriveled stomach disappeared, and the HP that had lost one-fifth was restored at a slower rate.

Regardless of how it tastes, I do feel a lot more at ease after eating.

Licking his dry lips, Wang Shui suddenly realized that in the original novel, those players who had been clinging to novice villages or low-rise cities were finding it more difficult to survive in SAO. At least the food problem could not be solved through patience. .

Rather than considering these players purely as numbers, Kirito probably took the first step as a solo player last night.

Moreover, there are many strong-willed players who are unwilling to lag behind and are already leveling up like crazy.

In addition to the closed beta players, there are also many veterans who have just started playing in the open beta. As long as they are not frightened to the point of weakness by Kayaba Akihiko's death declaration, these veterans are a solid force in conquering this world.

Aqua Regia is also about to start taking action.

His mind connected to the personal information bar. Here, Wang Shui did not open the menu screen of SAO.Instead, he opened the awakener page of his boss, [Dream System].

The biological brain [Computing Terminal] that directly acted on the brain successfully constructed the picture, but Wang Shui keenly discovered that his basic attribute [Physical Energy] turned gray.

The status bar that had always been empty also had an icon called [Deep Meditation].

The only two production skills "Forging" and "Mechanical Engineering" have also turned gray.

It is not difficult to understand that the Aqua Regia now wearing NERvGear is judged by the biological brain as [deep meditation], which is probably similar to sleep.

Moreover, the current game character's body, which he can perceive a large amount of environmental information, is just a virtual existence constructed by NERvGear by transmitting massive sensory signals to the brain.

So [Physical Strength] among the basic attributes becomes meaningless... As for his only two skills, is it because they are not recognized by the SAO system?

Although he knew that checking extraordinary attributes would not reveal much information, he still had to be cautious. When entering an unknown area, he first checked his own status. This was what an old customer of Wang Shui told him.

Next, Wang Shui flipped through SAO's status interface. There were a bunch of bare 0s and a clean equipment column with nothing to show for it.

But Wang Shui still patiently clicked on each button to check and test each function. At the same time, without stopping, he left the city through the north gate of the town.

The scenery on the first floor of the floating city "Aincrad" is quite beautiful.

Outside the north gate is a savanna with a small number of hills. In the distance is a dense forest like a dark green ocean. In the sky is an earth-colored sky with a metallic texture - that is the second level of the world.

The scenery in every direction is worth taking pictures to keep as a permanent souvenir.

There are a large number of blue boar monsters scattered on the vast grassland near the starting town. The diamond-shaped buoys above their heads are yellow, which means that they are semi-active monsters and will not actively attack the player, just like Sly in other games. A novice leveling monster like Mu.

What surprised Wang Shui was that there were not many players around the town.

In the original book, only 1 people were trapped in this floating prison. Indeed, for a long time after the game started, the vast majority of players were not active raiders. They crowded into the town and pretended to be ostriches, waiting for rescue from the outside world. .

It wasn't until they ran out of money that they teamed up to hunt low-level monsters...or hunt the same kind (other weak players).

But with a player base of more than 22, there shouldn't be only a dozen or so leveling guys the next day. Is it because it's too early now?

Or did they go out to a village further away on the first night?

Wang Shui thought thoughtfully, veteran players close to the second leveling echelon can be so far ahead of Wang Shui, so how strong will the [Strategy Team] be for those in the third or even fourth echelon who are many steps behind?

It is a good habit to think divergently. The more you think, the more you will gain, but leveling up should not be left behind.

Wang Shui, who classified himself as the third echelon, pulled out the [Small Sword] on his waist. It was the initial weapon type [One-Handed Straight Sword], one for each hand.

The blade is narrow and thin, and the handle is short. It looks like a long dagger when held in the hand.

According to the guide, there is a cheap weapon shop in the city. You can buy good weapons such as [Bronze Sword] or [Bronze Scimitar] with an initial capital of 1000 kel.

The aqua regia that has been spent on Kel has no choice but to use this long dagger to refresh new monsters.

Compared with the joy of logging into SAO at first and finally realizing his boyhood fantasy, Wang Shui wanted to experience the core settings of the world of SAO even more——

[Sword Skill] System.

A level 1000 player like Wang Shui only has two empty skill slots, but there are many skills that can be equipped at level [-]. Weapon skills such as [One-Handed Straight Sword], [Short Sword], [Scythe], and [Stick], auxiliary skills such as [Concealment], [Enemy Detection], and [Reaction Avoidance], each unique Under the icon is a proficiency system with a maximum level of [-], and a huge sword skill tree.

Yes, the so-called skills can be understood as passive abilities, and the hidden skill tree is the intuitive sword skills and auxiliary abilities.

If you want to use the corresponding sword skills, in addition to equipping the corresponding weapons, you must also put the corresponding passive skills into the limited skill slot.

The operation is very simple, just drag and drop...

[Exception, unable to learn skills! 】

The bright red text on the small white pop-up window was extremely dazzling. Wang Shui, who had been a little excited and expectant just now, suddenly froze in place as if the game had frozen.

Procrastinate.

[Exception, unable to learn skills! 】

Hold on!

【abnormal……】

After repeating the operation like an idiot several times, Wang Shui took a deep breath and opened the panel given by his boss, [Dream System] Unlimited Company. The talent awakening ability on it seemed to be shining brightly:

[Arrogant Knower (Dark Silver): Cannot obtain extraordinary professions, cannot change bloodline, can only obtain skills through learning, learning ability is not restricted, and learning ability is greatly enhanced. 】

...No, big brother?Where are you playing with me here? !

Here is the game!game!It’s the characters in the game who need to acquire skills!It’s not like I got it myself, why are you making trouble now?
Hey hey hey, is Brother Kayaba here?There's something here that's overriding your system!Come and see if this error pop-up window was written by you!
After entering the infinite world for half a year, Aqua Regia, who had only worked as a blacksmith and repairman, collapsed. This scene was something he had never imagined.

He began to pace back and forth on the grassland, scratching his head and ears, and the sword in his hand poked the grass at his feet.

A few days ago, he was still fooling Shino, talking freely and with a calm and calm face.

He lay down on the grass and said inexplicably "I am Messi, and I am panicking now."

Wang Shui, who has dispelled the old gossip, now just wants to take out his mobile phone and search:
[Urgent, I entered SAO and cannot use sword skills. How can I hold the toes of the strategy team? 】

Forget about toes now, with this level of realism, without skills, making money to eat and survive is a problem!
When he was just transported to the Infinite World Station [Tiefeng City] by a dump truck, Wang Shui was so trapped that he became a blacksmith to survive.

He is a bit path-dependent, and now he wants to go back to the starting town and pick up the forging hammer...

It's a pity that his advanced forging skills are not recognized by SAO... Go to the blacksmith NPC to learn from scratch?
His brain was buzzing, and Wang Shui suddenly remembered a little tip from the strategy post he read a few days ago.

"When the player's skill proficiency reaches a certain level, the corresponding sword skills will not appear directly on the skill interface.

Players can either explore and master it by themselves, or go to the starting town to find the corresponding skill instructor to learn. At the same time, there are a large number of rare and hidden sword skills that must be mastered in this way. "

Skill instructors... seem more like sword skills instructors. Will they teach basic skills from scratch?

Moreover, it seems that there is a fee to learn sword skills...

Not knowing what to do next, Wang Shui, who had no choice, ran back to the city quickly.

From the central square to the northwest in the alley, Wang Shui came to the back street mentioned in the guide.

There are no shops in the back streets, only a dozen training ground-like buildings with skill icons hanging on them.

Wang Shui went straight to the [One-Handed Straight Sword] skill instructor. Under the other's humanistic questioning gaze, Wang Shui narrowed his eyes, grinned, and immediately burst into tears!

"Teacher! Ahhhh, my beloved mentor! Ooooh! Teacher, please save me!"

The highly realistic NPC instructor suddenly looked confused:
"Stop, stop, stop, young man, I said stop, what's wrong with you?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, I, my, I, I was deceived! Someone, someone used this little sword to defraud me of all the money that I had!"

The skill instructor still didn't understand: "Don't all new adventurers receive this small sword?"

"But, but I don't know, they lied to me before I received the sword, wuwuwu, mentor, please save me."

Well, the skill instructor very intelligently gave an idiot look, and then said:

"It doesn't matter, right? Now you have a one-handed sword, so you can make money by cleaning up the monsters outside the city."

"But, but I don't know the [One-Handed Straight Sword] skill..." Wang Shui lowered his head and whispered in a low voice, his tears falling to the ground.

"Wait a minute, haven't all adventurers completed training in all basic skills?"

"I...my situation is a bit special. I come from a remote village nearby, and I'm relatively stupid. I only learned [dagger] skills from my deceased brother. My brother said that mastering one weapon skill is enough, as long as it can help the town. Just clean up the low-level monsters nearby and you can live a good life..."

The atmosphere is here, and there are only three results.

First, the AI ​​character of the skill tutor is relatively tough. If Shui Wang is driven away, Shui Wang will change his excuse and try the [Dagger] tutor next door.

Second, the skill instructor is soft-hearted, but does not want to teach idiots, so he simply gives a starting dagger to Shui Wang. Then Shui Wang goes to the [Dagger] instructor next door, takes out the dagger and says that someone tricked him into buying the dagger, but he only He knows the skill of a one-handed sword and asks his mentor to teach him without even changing his words.

Third, the skill instructor was soft-hearted and promised to teach him the [One-Handed Straight Sword] skill. If he can master it, he can go to the [Dagger] instructor next door... Oh, it seems that he doesn’t have to go this time.

Anyway, that’s probably the idea, it’s nothing more than a performance, and there’s no other way for the time being.

Fortunately, Wang Shui had studied two strange books, "The Actor's Self-cultivation" and "Social Engineering", and he was very thick-skinned.

In Wang Shui's pitiful and expectant eyes, the skill instructor sighed and said:

"If you don't have all the skills, you can't become an adventurer according to the town agreement. I'm going to deprive you of your adventurer status, prohibit you from going out of the city to fight monsters, and also prohibit you from learning any more skills."

Depend on!What the hell deal? !Player terms?Kayaba, you tricked me again!

Things seemed to have gone terribly wrong, and Wang Shui subconsciously wanted to rush out, at least to keep his identity as an adventurer first.

But at this time, the skill instructor suddenly sighed:
"Oh, but in this case, you have to live on your own in the town. Judging from your stupidity (huh?), you will probably end up in the slums. The situation there will be complicated. Two powerful people The bastards have controlled the slums for years..."

Hey, hey, brother, you're off track!Stop telling the story. If you tell the story again, there will be a question mark over your head. I have no skills and levels now, so I can't do your task!

"Your dead brother is right. In fact, mastering a weapon skill is enough to clean up the monsters that come in from the wild from time to time. By the way, what is the name of your insightful brother?"

"Hei, I call him Brother Hei, his death will be miserable."

The slightest hesitation is an insult to Brother Hei's humanity.

"He's an adventurer I've never heard of. It's good to have such a rational adventurer heritage in nearby villages and towns. Unlike most people, who think they have mastered a lot of skills, they just blindly attack high-level monsters and lose their lives early."

Tutor, you are a bit poor, do you know?Let’s talk about the important point. If nothing happens, I’ll go find the [Dagger] instructor next door.

"Well, that's it for now. I just want to teach you the basics and moves, so that you don't end up in the slums and become the thugs of those two bastards. Oh, I don't know your name yet."

"Teacher, my name is [Half Book of Heaven]."

Wang Shui was talking about his game nickname. This name was the nickname he commonly used on the Internet before he was joined by Dump Truck.

He seems to be quite tall, but in fact it is just a derogatory way of teasing him from his former classmates and colleagues.

In his hometown, this word means that the bottle is less than half full but likes to show off knowledge. It is a curse word.

Wang Shui has obsessive-compulsive disorder in learning and especially likes to read various professional books, but he is always a 3-minute hot topic. He knows a little bit about everything but is not proficient in anything. He is also fast-talking and has a strong desire to express himself, so he often talks too much and is disliked by others.

But Wang Shui... his face has long been developed to the point where he can't do anything about it, so he simply uses the ridicule of "Half Heavenly Book" and "Half Bottle of Water" as online nicknames, and similar ones are "Wang Banxian" , [Little Zhuge] and other high-shame alternatives.

"Half a Book of Heaven? What a strange name." The instructor couldn't help but complain.

Okay, I haven’t ordered [Armed Helicopter] or [Walmart Shopping Bag] yet, I’m afraid it won’t pass the trial.

"Okay, half, let's go to the training ground inside."

Um, teacher, would it be easier for you to call me "Tian Shu"?
Half of it sounded like it was unfinished, which made me feel bad.

"Banbu, why are you still standing there? Banbu, come here. Banbu, can you talk?"

……

(End of this chapter)