Perhaps because it hasn't been fully developed yet.
It's clear that the game company aimed to make this chalk city grand and majestic. Besides the wide plaza where Yuu currently stands, in the distance, there's a gray brick fortress resembling a city lord's residence, a massive black palace, and faintly visible stairs leading to the upper levels among the clouds.
However, aside from the stairs, these buildings are shrouded in a blurry layer of pixels, far from the clarity and realism of the scene before him.
This is the beginner village in the game.
According to the setting, this city is located on the first floor of the giant floating city, the largest city with the most NPCs.
Pausing for a moment, Yuu looks around.
The expansive stone floor extends into five main roads, radiating from the plaza's center. Lush green trees line the area, casting dappled shadows on the medieval-style streets.
Various shops and buildings line the roads, with occasional spirited shouts from merchants and cheerful laughter from children. The sounds of hammers, slashes, and clangs form a crisp symphony, like the game's background music, coloring the entire city with a strong otherworldly vibe.
At the same time, some "people" dressed in medieval clothing and gear pass by Yuu, loudly discussing monsters outside the city.
And soon after, they return from the same direction, saying the same words, performing the same actions, and walking past him again.
"NPCs?"
Since even the beta test hasn't started, there naturally aren't many players in this game—or rather, very few.
Yuu looks left and right, seeing no other players wearing the same starter clothes as him.
To confirm, he even pats a group passing by him for the third time:
"Hey, are you interested in learning about our great lord, the Flying Cat God?"
The sword-wielding man leading the group turns, his face blooming with a chrysanthemum-like smile: "Friend, if you need info on nearby monsters, just a thousand col will do!"
Yuu pauses briefly. Following the manual, he swipes his index and middle fingers downward in the air. With a crisp bell sound, the game's main menu appears before him.
Opening the bag icon, he sees an empty inventory and a money column showing only 500 col. He immediately turns and walks away.
"Then forget it."
(Without a sword in hand, I can't protect you… Wait, wrong.)
Without a sword in hand, Yuu can't enjoy this virtual game supposedly filled with fighting and violence. Beginner players only get a set of plain cloth clothes with low defense and no extra effects, basically just to cover the body.
So, his first goal is naturally the weapon shop.
Following the map's directions, Yuu quickly finds the weapon shop owner sitting out front, hammering hot iron.
He asks politely with a smile: "Hello, do you sell swords?"
"Need something? Look for yourself!" the owner replies gruffly without looking up.
A menu pops up in front of him.
Yuu glances at it, then ignores the menu and says to the owner: "Sir, don't you make magic wands here?"
"Need something? Look for yourself!" the owner repeats gruffly, still not looking up.
"Tch…"
Fine, it seems this game company couldn't make some NPCs as intelligent as in online game novels from his previous life.
Yuu shrugs, abandoning his joking intent, and shifts his gaze back to the shop menu.
He recalls Kouichirou once telling him that so-called Sword Skills don't just refer to sword techniques. They include swords, spears, double-edged spears, axes, yue, hooks, and forks. Even Throwing Skills are considered Sword Skills.
In the shop menu, there are only common weapons like one-handed swords, rapiers, long axes, and cheaper throwing projectiles like shurikens that disappear after use.
After reviewing the items, without hesitation, Yuu buys a beginner's one-handed sword for 300 col and 10 throwing knives at 20 col each.
There's no Mana bar or equivalent in this game. With his reflexes, he's unlikely to get hit by a Frenzy Boar or similar, so he doesn't save money for potions. If he accidentally loses HP, auto-recovery or dying and respawning in town is more cost-effective.
"Thanks for your purchase!" The owner finally looks up, staring at him with wide eyes and thanking him.
Yuu doesn't respond. After equipping his one-handed sword, he walks toward the leveling area outside the city without looking back.
The city looks lively and peaceful, but that liveliness belongs only to the NPCs, having nothing to do with the lone player.
"Games are more fun with lots of people."
From the shopping street to the city gate, Yuu doesn't meet a single player. He can't help but sigh.
Upon reaching the wild area where NPCs don't randomly appear, the sense of loneliness becomes clearer—like being called to school during a holiday, standing on the rooftop, and gazing at the silent, empty field.
Where's Kouichirou now…
"Damn, I'm even starting to miss a big guy." Yuu slaps his own face, shaking his head vigorously to clear out weird thoughts.
Rallying his spirits, he draws the one-handed longsword he just bought from his waist and swings it twice to get a feel for it.
"Hm, not bad."
The game comes with simple instructions. After reading them, Yuu roughly understands how to fight monsters in the wild.
In short, attacks are divided into normal attacks and Sword Skills—normal attacks need no explanation. Sword Skills require equipping the corresponding weapon skill in a skill slot first, then activating it through guided preparatory movements.
Sword Skills have high power, speed, and accuracy, allowing players to perform clean attack moves. The downside is the recovery frame after use—thus, canceling recovery frames and chaining Sword Skills smoothly is a key point to master in the game's combat mechanics.
Unfortunately, though it's his first time in the game, none of this is difficult for Yuu, with his Learning (Expert Level), Gaming, Swordsmanship, and Throwing (Expert Level) skills.
Soon, he finds his first target in the green grasslands outside the city.
A blue-furred Frenzy Boar with glowing red eyes is slowly chewing grass, its marker above its head red.
Frenzy Boar, a level-one monster.
"First, equip the skills…"
Starter characters have two skill slots. Yuu immediately equips One-Handed Sword and Throwing Skill, both still at Level 0.
He temporarily sheathes his sword, takes out a 20-col throwing knife, and assumes the system-designated throwing stance.
A green effect light glows on the throwing knife, but he doesn't immediately use the basic Sword Throwing technique—
Wrist, elbow, arm, waist, hips, both legs… After adjusting his stance, the faint green light turns dark green, emitting a far stronger aura than the standard stance.
"Then record."
With his other hand, Yuu opens the game's recording function. Aiming the camera at his arm and the Frenzy Boar in the distance, he clears his throat and says:
"First time fighting a Frenzy Boar, using a ranged weapon. I bet it won't live past three seconds."
Then, his hand holding the throwing weapon flashes through the air. The long-prepared throwing knife turns into a green laser, shooting out like a bullet and piercing the neck of the Frenzy Boar, still grazing.
"Ugh!"
With a scream, amidst flying grass, the Frenzy Boar collapses, its HP bar dropping drastically to zero.
The next second, its twitching body stiffens.
*BANG!*
Like shattering glass, the Frenzy Boar turns into polygon fragments and explodes into pieces.
This is the scene when a character or monster dies in Sword Art Online.
Yuu stops the recording, which totals about five seconds, and looks at the window that appears on the left side of his vision.
It lists the experience, col, and materials gained from defeating the Frenzy Boar.
"Easy is easy, but there's no fun at all."
Boring and bland, and also a waste of money.
Though one Frenzy Boar gives enough col to buy three throwing knives, when he thinks about leveling up by spending money, Yuu, who's used to being frugal, feels annoyed.
He draws his one-handed sword, picks up a pebble from the ground, and casually tosses it at another Frenzy Boar facing away from him.
With a green light effect, the pebble hits the center of the Frenzy Boar's backside and disappears.