Infinite Trial from the Giant

If you enter Sword Art Online, how can you improve your own strength while ensuring a higher survival rate?

Without a doubt, the easiest and most direct way is to find the protagonist, who is also the most experienced player in the entire Sword Art Online - Kirito, and learn those experiences and information from him.

Although Xia Tian was able to judge from the exclusive instructions clearly written in the additional target that there were other fighters in this world of Sword Art Online besides himself, he did not expect that someone would be able to find Kirito at the beginning and replace Klein's original position.

In this way, the gap will be widened immediately.

Without staying in the starting town for long, Xia Tian used the initial gold coins he had on him to buy a few replacement knives, then walked out of the starting town and headed towards the next village.

Right now, all Xia Tian can do is to level up as quickly as possible. However, as he is not a closed beta player, he has no idea how to level up most efficiently. So, if he could make friends with a closed beta player, it would be helpful. However, in the current situation, let alone making friends, it is estimated that none of those closed beta players will take the initiative to reveal their identities as closed beta players. Instead of staying in the starting town and observing and guessing who is the closed beta player like drawing a lottery, it is better to just leave and explore.

After all, anyone who wants to survive, like Kirito, will definitely be the first to leave the Starting Town and take priority over the leveling resources that new players are completely unaware of. So as long as I am one of the first to leave the Starting Town, there is a great chance that I will run into closed beta players, and it is not even impossible to run into Kirito and that guy who got there first.

The only thing that can make Xia Tian feel a little bit clueful right now is that, although the arena has not explained the situation of each fighter, if anyone appears with Kirito, he must be a fighter.

However, Xia Tian's luck was obviously not very good. He did not meet any players until he dealt with the occasional wild boars or wild wolves on the road and arrived at the first village indicated by the map, Dosla Village. Looking at the several NPCs with exclamation marks above their heads in Dosla Village, Xia Tian silently gave up the idea of ​​going directly to the next village to continue looking for closed beta players.

And after Xia Tian finished talking to all the NPCs with exclamation marks in Dosla Village and accepted the mission, he understood why the closed beta players would not appear here.

Even though Sword Art Online has now become a true death game, it is still a game world after all, and Dosra Village is worthy of being the first village out of the Starting Town. The tasks issued by the NPCs here are basically not dangerous at all, such as collecting wood near the village, helping the village chief to bring a message to a villager, and helping the village clear the weeds around the houses. The only task that requires fighting is to ask Xia Tian to kill the manic wild boars that he is tired of killing.

Moreover, probably because it was an errand task, Xia Tian only barely upgraded his level from level one to level two after he had completely cleared all the tasks in the entire Dosla Village. This made him once again feel the importance of closed beta players.

Without staying too long, after completing the mission in Dosla Village, Xia Tian continued to move towards the next village according to the instructions on the map.

However, not long after Xia Tian left Dosla Village, a figure appeared not far in front of Xia Tian.

"Shouldn't he be a closed beta player?"

It was already past five when Kayaba Akihiko issued the notice, and now, the entire Aincrad, like the real world, welcomed its first silent and sleepless night. In the night, because of the distance, Xia Tian could not see the person in front of him clearly, and only heard a voice from the other party that sounded like a question, but also like a soliloquy.

"Probably not. No closed beta player would go to Dosla Village to do errands right now." As he said this, the man seemed to have confirmed something, and then slowly approached Xia Tian.

When they got closer, Xia Tian could see the other person clearly. He was a young man who looked only a few years older than himself. At that moment, the young man was staring at him with his eyes with heavy dark circles. It felt like he was looking at some kind of prey.

"I'm right, aren't I? You're not a closed beta player, are you?" This time the question was very clear. The young man pointed at Xia Tian and said with a low laugh.

Xia Tian shook his head and replied with a smile: "You are right, I am not a closed beta player. What can I do for you?"

"Hahaha, as expected. But you are really brave. Other newcomers are now hiding in the Starting Town, crying and trembling, but you dare to come out and complete the mission. You dare to travel in such a dark night. Aren't you afraid? Or do you not believe what Kayaba Akihiko said?"

Although he asked two questions in succession, the other party didn't seem to intend to let Xia Tian answer, so he just continued talking.

"Whatever the reason, you must have enough self-confidence in yourself, you think you will not die..." As he spoke, the man slowly drew out the one-handed sword from his waist, "I say, I actually don't believe it. Death in the game means real death. It sounds like a lie, doesn't it? It is very likely that if we die here, we will go directly back to the real world. What do you think? Oh, yes, it's just right. I want to find someone to verify my point of view. I wonder if you are interested in cooperating with me?"

"But, if what Kayaba Akihiko said is true, then it is really..." The young man paused, then his mouth curled up into a crazy smile, "Isn't it great?"

At this point, the young man suddenly stretched out his hands, and his voice became a little higher: "If you die in the game, it's not against the law, right? After all, no one outside knows what happened. Don't you think so? Hahahaha, this is heaven. You can dominate other people's lives at will. Don't you think this is the highest enjoyment?"

Dominating other people's lives at will? The ultimate enjoyment?

Listening to his words, Xia Tian subconsciously recalled his childhood memories, which were definitely not memories worth reminiscing about for him.

Afterwards, Xia Tian slowly drew out the knife from his waist. Although he still had a smile on his face, his tone was already filled with an indescribable coldness.

"Okay, then come and let me enjoy it."