I like traveling the most

The registration ceremony for the No. 1 Martial Arts Club in the World is in full swing.

Soon the registration deadline came one week later, and there were far more players participating than Xiaolin imagined, with a total of more than 700 players.

Many players in the middle echelon have been working hard during this period in order to reach the fifty-level limit.

Then comes the exciting qualifying round.

There is no need to prepare. Players who have successfully registered are already ready to go and can't wait to compare themselves with the strong players in Aincrad.

So on this day.

In the central arena of the initial town on the first level, the world's best martial arts club officially begins.

Xiao Lin and Heathcliff sat on the stage.

Normally, Alice, the president of Axis Church, should be sitting here, but she is currently participating in the qualifiers, so the vice-president, Kobayashi, has to sit here.

——This is just rhetoric on the surface.

Everyone knows that the person who really controls the Axis Cult is Xiaolin. Although they have different positions, they have equal power.

The two sat together and talked and laughed.

“I didn’t expect so many people to participate.”

"Yes. Probably the players are looking forward to who is the strongest in Aincrad, and are also looking forward to the moment when the strongest player appears."

Heathcliff smiled.

Even though he was talking to Xiao Lin, he always looked at the players in the audience with a feeling of superiority. It was not about the difference between strong people or status, but about a deeper level... Yes, just like the players who dominate this world. Like gods.

This state has been revealed many times.

Ever since the Blood Alliance Knights were established and squeezed into the attack group in a very short period of time, he has become an irreplaceable front-line tank in the attack group.

And every time he looked at the happy players after conquering the floor, he would do this.

Silent arrogance.

It's not that Xiao Lin is pretending to say this because he already knows the answer to the riddle, but that he realizes it because he is very familiar with people's expressions and atmospheres. Even if he doesn't have all-round vision, he already has quite a lot of experience in using it for a long time.

"But won't Vice President Xiaolin participate?"

"No, no, no, I am the kind of person who has no offensive power. President Heathcliff should know that very well. And... didn't President Heathcliff also participate?"

"After all, this is an event for other players. Wouldn't it look very bad if I participated in it myself?"

"...You say that, as if you will win if you participate."

"I didn't think I was going to lose."

"Hahaha——, President Heathcliff is indeed very powerful. If he appears on the stage, others will surrender on the spot."

Heathcliff's arrogance, which everyone thought was worth the effort, turned into a spear and pierced Xiaolin's humble shield. Although it was sharp, it had no effect. His provocation was not successful.

Seeing this, Heathcliff restrained his sharpness and became humble.

"No, the players in Aincrad are still very strong. At least there are some members of the strategy team that I would not dare to defeat easily. For example: Mr. Kirito, the swordsman in black."

"President Heathcliff seems to be optimistic about him."

"certainly."

His words did not hide his appreciation for Kirito.

In fact, among all the players in Aincrad, except for ten people including Kobayashi, Kirito is probably the strongest, otherwise he would not have received the special skill-Two Sword Style.

I just don’t know if it will be used in this conference, but Xiaolin is looking forward to it.

"Speaking of which."

Heathcliff turned his head slightly and said with admiration: "I didn't expect Vice President Xiaolin to hold such a festival for all the players. It seems that you also noticed the players' anxiety and uneasiness, so you thought Let’s use this conference to show our strength and appease the bottom players.”

"Huh?"

"...Isn't it?"

"No, I didn't think about it that much. I just thought it was interesting, so I organized this world's best martial arts tournament, that's all."

"I see."

Seeing Xiaolin's ambiguous response, Heathcliff didn't say anything more. He probably felt that even if he continued to ask, there would be no benefit, let alone meaning.

While the two were talking, Sato Kazuma ran over.

"Senior Xiaolin, it's almost time, opening speech -"

"President Heathcliff, it's up to you."

"May I?"

"certainly."

Xiao Lin Qian gave in and stretched out his hand.

There is no way, whether it is the prizes that have been increased from the original thirty-two to forty-eight, or the venue this time, it is all managed by Heathcliff, at least to make people feel a little bit involved.

Although he can obtain these easily as an administrator, Xiaolin cannot reveal his identity.

Heathcliff rose from his seat.

Wearing red and white full-body armor, he is not as dazzling and beautiful as Asuna, but the feeling of thickness and power is still quite strong.

As he stood up, the whole place fell into silence.

A transparent window appeared in front of him, with a trumpet-like pattern on it, which represented Heathcliff's use of amplifying props.

"——Everyone, there is no need to elaborate on the useless opening remarks. You are here either for the strongest reputation or for the generous prizes. No matter what, you will be here to fight against other strong men. Then, no Leave no regrets and go all out!”

Don’t you have any regrets that this hasn’t even started yet?

Xiao Lin then realized that Heathcliff didn't seem to have much talent for speaking. Considering that he was just a scientific researcher, he seemed to understand?

"Next..."

Heathcliff materialized his weapon and held it high in front of him.

"As the president of the Blood Alliance Knights, I promise that this world's No. 1 martial arts competition is real and effective, and I guarantee fairness and justice!"

Then he turned his head and looked at Xiao Lin.

Xiao Lin scratched his head and had to materialize a garbage long sword from the prop column, crossing it with the opponent's long sword in mid-air.

"Axis Church, promise."

As these words were spoken, the whole audience cheered.

The excitement was far more lively than the day when SAO was launched, which made Heathcliff a little jealous, but when he thought about participating in it this time, his mood gradually calmed down.

"Okay, okay---everyone please look over here!"

Suddenly, three figures appeared in front of the arena.

"I am the host of this event, Kazuma! And the two people next to me are also the hosts--"

"Goddess Aqua, just believe in me!"

"My name is You, Youyou, please teach me."

After the two finished introducing themselves, Sato Kazuma spoke again: "Wait, wait! I know you all want to duel with other strong people now, but please be patient. After all, according to convention, we have to read the sponsor GG before starting. ... What, we don't have a sponsor?! That's really sad. If anyone wants to sponsor this conference, please come to me as soon as possible after today. The first few will have extra discounts!"

Sato Kazuma's interesting speech received warm cheers, and the shouts of 8,000 people broke through the sky, making the little loli Huihui in the audience very envious and dissatisfied.

"Kazuma, that guy, clearly said that I want to play, but later refused. It's really hateful!"

This is of course.

Aqua, the one who was stirring up the atmosphere, was already on the stage. If Huihui was added, it would really explode on the spot, so in the end, Yunyun was sent up to hold them back and sell them.

"Although all contestants already know the rules in advance, for the sake of other audiences, let us explain them first!"

Sato Kazuma waved his hand, and a large window appeared in front of more than 8,000 audiences.

"First of all, all players who participated in the registration have received a number plate before this. Please note that this is your identity card, and the two players who will fight later are rolling on the big screen behind me. Don't worry, this is drawn by the system, absolutely fair and just! Of course, if you are unlucky..."

He lowered his voice slightly, and Yunyun was very considerate.

"What will happen if we are unlucky?"

"We might even be eliminated in the first round!"

"Wait a minute, Kazuma, aren't we selecting the strongest? I don't agree with this method."

Aqua crossed her arms, but Kazuma Sato didn't care: "Luck is also part of strength. Who says a champion with luck is not a champion? In addition, today's goal is to select 48 players. As for why it is 48, it is of course because this is the maximum number of players in a strategy team! So without further ado, let's get started!"

No one expected that just an ordinary preliminaries would be so exciting.

The strong players were all confident and didn't care who their opponents were, while many players who wanted to fish in troubled waters put their hands together and prayed.

Win!

No matter who the opponent is, you must win!

Kirito clenched the long sword behind him.

Kobayashi was not nervous at all. The system arrangement seemed fair and just, but he knew that this was the biggest shady deal, because the man sitting next to him was the administrator. With Heathcliff's... no, Kayaba Akihiko's character, he would not let the strong players meet in a boring preliminaries and be easily eliminated.

In fact, it was the same as he thought. In the first round, he met some powerful and well-known players he knew, and they were all weak and tried their luck.

More than 700 players.

It seems that there are many people participating, but in fact, each player only needs to have four duels.

...If you think so, you are wrong!

First of all, these are four consecutive duels. Although the life value will be replenished after the duel, the energy loss is real. If you encounter a strong enemy in the first round and barely defeat it, you may lose in the second, third, and fourth rounds.

And if you lose, you will be directly eliminated, and there will be no resurrection match for them.

If you want to enter the main competition, you have to consider how to allocate physical strength, energy, and a little bit of luck in the battle.

"Wow, the scene is really chaotic!"

Sato Kazuma's live broadcast did not stop, he was attracting the audience to create an atmosphere.

"Ms. Aqua, who do you think will win?"

"Kobayashi!"

"Answer quickly? But I guessed you would say that. Unfortunately, Kobayashi-senpai didn't attend this meeting."

"What? My bet was in vain, then?"

"Hahaha - you didn't expect that, I'm waiting for you right here!"

"Damn Kazuma, give me my money back!"

The two of them were playing like a crosstalk, and the audience applauded. Only Youyou believed it and wanted to pull them apart.

Kazuma Sato saw the opportunity and said loudly: "Since it is a conference, how can we not place bets? Audiences, please keep your eyes open. If there are any players you are optimistic about, please place bets as soon as possible! By the way, please Pay attention to our lovely Alice! ”

"Place a bet? Not bad."

"Okay, let me see who looks like a champion."

"It's decided, I want to support Alice! I'll bet all my money that she will win!"

"Me too!"

The audience was chatting away.

The corners of Sato Kazuma's mouth gradually rose, and his smile was extremely evil.

"——Thank you for your patronage."

As the banker, he will definitely make a lot of money this time.

In the field.

Darkness took defensive measures and never took the initiative to attack. She made other players who were unable to break through the defense look despairing, and finally took the initiative to withdraw from the game. This made this perverted female knight who wanted to bear more shocks feel a little dissatisfied.

Kureia was originally a knight from the Duke's family, and she has spent more time holding a sword than these people have played games in real life. She defeated four people in succession without much effort and successfully advanced.

The most surprising one is Alice.

Maybe it’s because she’s already soft and weak, giving people the illusion of an orthodox beautiful girl. In addition, she often jumps around on the stage, which makes players mistakenly think that she actually has no level and is weak, resulting in the feeling that I can win. the illusion.

In fact, Alice, who learned the orthodox swordsmanship of the kingdom, was very powerful, and many powerful enemies - including even a member of the strategy team, were easily defeated by her.

Let the audience understand that the strength of the idol princess who sings and dances on stage must not be underestimated.

And others——

Familiar players such as Kirito, Asuna, Diabell, Koharu, Rinko, and Agil also won four games and successfully entered the main competition.

Asuna defeated the last opponent, sheathed her rapier and took a long breath to calm down her excitement. She turned her head and saw Kirito, who had defeated four people one after another and was doing nothing with his arms crossed.

"What a shame."

"……What?"

"I was quite looking forward to meeting you in the qualifiers, but it seems that the system did not respond to my expectations. But it doesn't matter, I will beat you in the main game. I will never give up, and the same is true for you. "

"oh oh……"

Afterwards, Asuna shook her long, silky brown hair and turned around to leave. Kirito, who was left there confused, scratched his cheek and couldn't help but wonder where he had offended her.

It was already evening.

Toot toot————

When the last person defeated the enemy with difficulty and successfully entered the main match, a huge trumpet sounded from the center of the arena.

"That's it!"

Sato Kazuma raised his hands high and shouted: "The forty-eight people standing behind me now are undoubtedly the strongest group in Aincrad. Let us cheer for these players!"

“Oh oh oh——————”xN

Sky-breaking cheers came from the arena.

Many people whispered.

"As expected, there are more members in the strategy team."

"Yes. After all, they are always at the forefront and have the highest level."

"Idiot, that's not the case! Look, there must be people among them who are not members of the strategy team! And look... Her Highness Alice is also among them!"

They all looked at the idol princess in the center of the arena, raising her hands to signal to the audience, with happy smiles on their faces.

"I have decided to spend all my wealth on it later."

"Me too!"

"For Alice!"

Ignoring the people shouting slogans, Sato Kazuma used a small wooden stick as a microphone.

"The forty-eight top players here now are already qualified to receive the generous prizes prepared by our Axis Cult and the Blood Alliance Knights, but I don't think anyone here will take away the consolation prize willingly, right?"

The provocative words reached the ears of everyone in the center of the arena. Just as he thought, the players would not stop there.

"Then, please have a good rest today and prepare for tomorrow's battle! The same goes for other viewers, please lock in for tomorrow's second round! We'll see you tomorrow!"

In this way, under the provocative words of Sato Kazuma, the first day of qualifying ended.