Chapter 118: Another Hall Collapses
It must be said, Kayaba truly lived up to his reputation as the genius behind Sword Art Online—just as he promised, he spent a day fabricating twelve generations of Hayashi's ancestry and a family history stretching over two centuries. The level of detail was so thorough it could rival the fictionalized history of ancient Russia on Wikipedia.
If Hayashi weren't the person involved, after reading Kayaba's meticulously crafted history, he might've even started thinking, "Maybe this is real, and I just lost my memories from a head injury."
With this utterly convincing—no, genuine documentation, along with a sum of money Kayaba discreetly siphoned from the shady accounts of various wealthy individuals, Hayashi successfully entered the so-called "Heaven"—the inner city district—where he purchased a luxurious villa and YGGDRASIL login equipment. Though Hayashi didn't need a neural port to access the game, a certain artificial intelligence still required it as a gateway.
"So, see you in-game?"
"See you there." Kayaba adjusted his glasses.
...
...
YGGDRASIL, a game released in 2126, had been running for eleven years by this point. And now, it suddenly welcomed five players who weren't quite players.
"Hmm—"
After logging in, Hayashi experimentally moved his body and remarked, "Movement feels pretty smooth, but my facial expressions seem locked."
Erina nodded expressionlessly. "It seems the game's facial interaction features are limited, so changes in expression aren't possible?"
Beside them, Kayaba scoffed in disdain. "What a trash game! How can this be the one that crosses over, while my SAO doesn't?"
Because SAO was too SAO (laughs).
Hayashi shrugged. "Rather than obsessing over that, let's focus on leveling up as fast as possible. We need to hit max level quickly so we can start buying up equipment, hidden class scrolls, and the like."
Hisako added, "And materials for guild bases, construction permits, special NPC components, and so on."
Hayashi counted on his fingers. "That means we also need guild weapons and unique bonus items… Ugh, feels like there's way too much to collect."
This is also a headache for many new players of the game. For veteran players, it might just be one new feature added per year, but for newcomers, it means having to absorb ten complex new elements all at once.
What a headache!
...
...
In the following period, Hayashi and the others threw themselves wholeheartedly into the game. With the help of the new player catch-up system and the online guides compiled by Kayaba, the team managed to reach max level in just three and a half months—and not just any max level, but an optimally balanced one that wasted no resources while maximizing their combat effectiveness.
After reaching max level, Hayashi's group began collecting rare materials that couldn't be purchased and could only be obtained by players through monster hunting, preparing for their future guild establishment.
Soon, six months after Hayashi and the others entered the game—and also six months before the story's beginning—the official servers finally buckled under pressure and announced on their website that the servers would shut down in half a year.
Just as Hayashi had predicted, the RMT market for the game immediately descended into chaos upon this news—
Anyone with half a brain understood that with the game's inevitable shutdown, in-game items would become worthless. Yet those who had spent fortunes on rare items couldn't bear to sell them cheaply, while no one would buy them at high prices.
At this precise moment, Hayashi began purchasing various rare materials at prices that, while cheaper than before, were still considerably high for the current market. These included but weren't limited to: NPC crafting materials, hidden race NPC creation items, world items, guild base construction materials, equipment forging materials, and more.
Hayashi explained his actions thus: "Since I joined late, I didn't get to enjoy the game properly. Might as well take advantage of the impending shutdown to build my ideal guild and max out all the stats!"
Some players found this reasoning appealing, but when they realized that even with lowered material prices, creating their perfect endgame characters would still be beyond their financial means—mainly because Hayashi's spending power single-handedly maintained the game's item prices at a level that wasn't exorbitant but remained unaffordable for most. This was primarily to prevent the market from crashing to a point where other like-minded players might compete with him for resources.
After aggressively acquiring nearly all of YGGDRASIL's materials, Hayashi's group of five immediately began constructing their guild base and NPCs—the designs for which had been finalized through half a year of discussions before being perfected and optimized by Kayaba.
All that remained was to wait for the transition.
...
...
World: Pokémon World
Time: Seven months after Hayashi entered the Overlord world
Location: Professor Oak's backyard
"Ahhh—"
Hayashi stretched luxuriously and sighed, "The air in the Pokémon world really is better!"
Hisako nodded in agreement. "Even the wealthy districts in the Overlord world couldn't match the air quality of an ordinary world."
Compared to the slums, it was like heaven, but given the pollution levels of that world, even heaven wasn't much better.
Yunyun, however, said uneasily, "T-then, is it really okay for us to come here alone and leave Uncle Kayaba behind?"
After all, Hayashi had promised Gin and the others that he would return to pick them up in about a year (though it was a month late). So once the acquisition matters in the Overlord world were temporarily settled, he immediately rushed back.
Hayashi, on the other hand, looked completely unapologetic as he said, "What's the big deal? Didn't we ask if he wanted to come along when we left? He chose not to!"
...
Hayashi: "Hey, Kayaba, we're going out to explore. Wanna come?"
Kayaba: "Piss off. I still have to design the guild buildings and various functional NPCs based on your requests. No time!"
Hayashi: "Oh, okay. We're leaving then."
...
Yunyun tilted her head and thought for a few seconds before mumbling, "I guess… that's true?"
Hayashi nodded, then reached out and patted Yunyun's head, sighing, "Little Yunyun, you're just too kind! You have to understand—Kayaba is a workaholic. Don't worry about him. Just enjoy yourself here—you barely got to play last time, right?"
The last time Yunyun came to the Pokémon world was… well, the last time—ahem, okay, okay, no need to hit me! The last time she visited the Pokémon world was before they went to the Sword Art Online world, but because she was preoccupied with matters in the Overlord world, she completely missed out on experiencing the wonders of the Pokémon world.
Coming all the way to the Pokémon world but not getting to enjoy its beauty was truly a shame! So this time, Hayashi was determined to let Yunyun properly experience it.
After all, someone was working tirelessly without rest, right?
Meanwhile, Hisako stood nearby, looking conflicted as she watched Hayashi. She wasn't sure whether to tell her young master that when Kayaba saw Hayashi using the Interdimensional Gate to "go out for a stroll," he seemed to have cursed out loud.
...
Kayaba (glancing back by chance): "Wait, when you said 'go out,' you didn't mean outside but to another world—hey, get back here!"
...
At this moment, in the backyard of Professor Oak's house, the members who had visited the Pokémon world last time had all gathered, rubbing their hands in anticipation as they eyed each other, eager to claim victory in this internal tournament—Hayashi had promised an unexpected prize!
Seriously, an unexpected prize—who wouldn't be tempted?
"For the sake of the prize, I won't hold back in taking this victory," Gin declared, crossing his arms. Thinking of his Lucario, Machamp, and Pangoro, he couldn't help but smirk.
The Fighting-type reigns supreme!
"Save the talk for after you win," Jōichirō snorted. Though his Aggron was at a disadvantage, his Nidoking had Poison-type moves—taking on Fighting-types was no problem!
"Senpai, I won't lose either—" This was the ever-daring Hinako, while Kōjirō beside her, though seemingly humble, had battle-hungry eyes that betrayed no hesitation.
"Heh, interesting."
Gin cracked his neck and said, "Bring it on, juniors. Let me show you the power of a true veteran!"
Then his Fighting-type Pokémon was completely wrecked by Yūki's Togekiss.
"No, I just don't get it," Gin said with a baffled expression. "How come her Air Slash triggers the effect 100% of the time? My Pokémon couldn't even move!"
Jōichirō slapped his shoulder gleefully, laughing, "Why else? Because you've got terrible luck! Pfft—Juniors, witness the power of your senior—pfft hahaha!"
It had to be said that Jōichirō's taunting was spot-on, perfectly mimicking Gin's previously overbearing and domineering attitude—it was just that getting completely wrecked by the most junior member in the first round was downright embarrassing for Gin.
"Wuwuwu, Gin is down again!" Hayashi said in a mocking tone. "The hall is down, the hall is down!"
"Kisama!" Gin pointed angrily at Hayashi, his face flushed with humiliation. "Let's settle this once and for all! No refusals—go, Lucario, Mega Evolution da!"
The majestic Mega Steel Dog stood imposingly before Hayashi, only to be instantly knocked out by Gengar's Psychic.
Well, what can you do? Psychic-type moves are super effective against Fighting-types.
Thud—
Gin fell to his knees, muttering despondently, "C-could it be... that all my training is worthless?"
Jōichirō patted his shoulder with a serious expression. "Now you know. So can you please stop dragging me out of bed at six every morning for runs?"
"You're right." Gin stood up, clenching his fists. "I must not be training hard enough! Starting tomorrow, we run at five!"
"No—"
As Jōichirō wailed in despair, Gin sneered—Did you really think I didn't know the reason I can't beat Hayashi is because his Pokémon are too strong? Trying to trick me!? Drop dead!
Gin: Hehehe, seeing you exhausted from running every day fills me with supreme joy!