Heathcliff: "What did you say?!"
Heathcliff: "You穿越 to another world with your in-game template and faction?!"
Kayaba Akihiko's tone of disbelief was nearly more shocking than when he'd joined the chat group.
He had created SAO — and in the future, he'd gone so far as to trap twenty thousand people in a death game — all to create a near-realistic fantastical world. But even so, a game was always a game.
It would always eventually be cleared.
But what was this person saying?
He穿越 to another world with his character template and faction?
穿越?!
Flying Squirrel: "It's not just me. There should have been others before me who穿越, just on different timelines."
Flying Squirrel: "The world I ended up in is also a fantastical world. Though the average level is relatively low, it's undoubtedly a different world from the city — a genuine other world."
Heathcliff: "."
Heathcliff: "May I ask what the game you played before 穿越 was called?"
Flying Squirrel: "Hm?"
Flying Squirrel: "You want to try it?"
Flying Squirrel: "YGGDRASIL."
Flying Squirrel: "It incorporated mythologies from many different countries. Even in my world, it was one of the most classic games."
Flying Squirrel: "At its peak, it had a massive online player base."
Flying Squirrel: "Unfortunately."
No game could flourish forever.
No matter how excellent a game was, it would gradually be replaced by others over time.
The teammates who had accompanied each other in the game would, because of life's troubles, gradually fall out of touch.
Heathcliff: "Thank you."
With that, Kayaba Akihiko exited the chat group.
Ordinary Group Leader: "He just went offline?"
Richest Man: "Anyone with eyes can see what Kayaba Akihiko is doing — he's checking the price of YGGDRASIL. Probably wants to exchange for a copy and see for himself what kind of game could actually cause 穿越."
Richest Man: "As if his game couldn't do it."
That was a researcher's pride.
Kayaba Akihiko had poured every ounce of his energy into creating SAO. How could he possibly accept that it was inferior to some other game?
Ordinary Group Leader: "But he doesn't have any points, does he?"
Su Yunqing asked with some confusion.
Ninth Prince of Qin: "Perhaps he'll earn points by making virtual games."
Ninth Prince of Qin: "He only created SAO — it doesn't mean he's only capable of creating SAO."
Ninth Prince of Qin: "Virtual games fetch a good price."
Ordinary Group Leader: "That's true."
Ordinary Group Leader: "And it really is fun."
Ordinary Group Leader: "It's just that after entering, your physical strength gets restricted — you're like an ordinary person. Though slightly stronger than a regular person, it's still a bit uncomfortable."
Ordinary Group Leader: "But it's excellent for honing combat experience."
Su Yunqing gave her evaluation of YGGDRASIL.
After Flying Squirrel joined the chat group, Su Yunqing had purchased the game the first chance she got.
She couldn't help it — no gamer could refuse a virtual game.
Let alone one from an anime collab!
White Rabbit: "Hehehe, I bought it too~"
White Rabbit: "Virtual game~!"
White Rabbit: "I never thought I'd actually get to play a virtual game one day!"
Utaha: "???"
Utaha: "You didn't spend those points on this game, did you?"
Utaha asked, somewhat at a loss for words.
For the chat group's high-rollers who never ran short on points, this much was nothing. But for people like them — the bottom of the group, with no fixed way to earn points — those points were a lot.
Spending them all on a game.
White Rabbit: "Forgive me, I just couldn't resist it. (puppy-dog.jpg)"
White Rabbit: "But I saved the rest of my points. I didn't spend them recklessly."
Utaha: "Honestly, I don't know what to do with you."
Utaha: "We only have ten thousand points between us. And you actually spent three thousand on YGGDRASIL."
Utaha: "Three thousand points is enough for three lottery draws!"
White Rabbit: "What do you spend yours on? (curious.jpg)"
Utaha: "Well... I used them on this and that."
Utaha: "Fine, I was wrong."
Utaha: "Should've just bought the game."
Utaha — after hesitating — ultimately surrendered.
Five attempts! Five thousand points!
Three lottery draws!
Two world-fishing sessions!
Not a single good item. Everything was trash!
The lottery draws gave her: toothpaste, a toothbrush, and Valentino (a luxury brand). The world-fishing pulled up: Professional Sharp-Tongue: 300 Sayings, and On the Correct Development of a Sharp Tongue.
What was all this?!!!
Was it mocking her for being sharp-tongued?
Was she actually sharp-tongued?
...She kind of was.
Ordinary Group Leader: "Pfft!"
Ordinary Group Leader: "Ha ha ha, please forgive me for not holding back."
Ordinary Group Leader: "What's the logic behind that? The odds of getting something good from the lottery are incredibly small."
Ordinary Group Leader: "The Ten Thousand Worlds Fishing spans all worlds across existence, but the odds of getting something good are even smaller than the lottery — because ordinary things will always vastly outnumber good things."
Ordinary Group Leader: "Know your place, huh? We're all unfortunate souls."
Utaha: "(shiba inu crying.jpg)"
Utaha: "At the time, I couldn't hold back — the words 'just in case' invaded my brain."
Utaha: "If I had it to do over, I would never spend points on those two features again!"
Five thousand points, completely down the drain!
She could've bought the virtual game at worst.
Or at the very least, improved her writing ability.
It wasn't like now, where it just evaporated into thin air!
It was all because Esdeath joining the group and winning the highest-tier ability from Baixuan's world on her first lottery draw had been too deeply ingrained in her memory.
She kept thinking — what if I tried too? What if she got lucky?
Even if it wasn't the highest-tier ability, something ordinary would've been fine.
She had ten thousand points, so what was the harm in trying?
And then five thousand points were gone.
Utaha had accepted the reality: luck-based stuff was not for her. Hitting the jackpot was impossible.
Better to老老实实用积分兑换东西.
At least that wouldn't be a waste.
When she thought about it carefully — in the memory copy, she ended up as a loser anyway. She'd given so much and still lost to Megumi.
She'd heard there was a route where her version won, but that didn't mean anything.
She was barely better than Eriri — the blonde golden-retriever loser.
White Rabbit: "@Saeko Busujima — Saeko, what did you buy?"
(End of Chapter)
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