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November 6, 2022

Floor 1, Town of Beginnings

"The way I see it," Israel began slowly as he sidestepped people running frantically past, "This is no different than any other RPG."

Picking up the pace as they drew near a side street that looked relatively empty, The two didn't slow down or look behind them until they had turned the corner. It was then that Israel saw the look on Jae's face.

He looked dumbfounded. "This is definitely not like other RPG's, man. This completely changes the game."

Israel was tempted to make a flippant remark about the unintentional pun, but he managed to restrain himself after reflecting on the gravity of the situation. Jae was right, of course. The two of them had just left the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings, where the creator of Sword Art Online, Kayaba Akihiko, had informed them what his game was really all about. He had proven that he now controlled their lives by trapping them permanently in SAO. If they died at any point during the game, then they died in real life as well. He had then simply vanished, leaving ten thousand people stranded in his vast world.

Jae was forced to step back as several people ran up from behind, showing no signs of slowing down. Waiting until they were out of earshot, Jae began racking his brain to come up with some kind of solution as he spoke. "We have no idea what kind of mobs are out there. We have no idea what powers and abilities anything has. We-"

"So we level up," Israel interrupted. "Obviously there's things different here than in other games, but as with any other RPG, we know that when we level up, we get attribute points. In our other games, we always go for added damage and offensive power. Here we just need to change our style a little. We need to take it slower and put a majority of our focus, at least early game, into defense and more HP."

Jae waved his arm in irritation as he replied, "Yes, but leveling up in any RPG takes time, and from what I've read in the Beta test reviews, leveling up in SAO takes even longer. Attribute points won't make a difference if we die before we get enough of them to actually be noteworthy."

Israel squinted in confusion. "So what...you're saying not to go out and start leveling up?"

"That's not what I'm saying at all." Jae answered through gritted teeth. He glanced at Israel, who stood unmoving and with arms now crossed in obvious irritation of his own. Taking a breath, Jae started over. "I'm thinking we stay here in town for at least one day. We can get several levels up by just doing the really simple, and safe, town quests. That will give us the buffer we need to actually go out and start grinding efficiently, without fear of getting caught off guard by abilities we weren't expecting."

Israel shook his head enthusiastically. "I get your point, and it makes sense, but it's not worth missing out on the rare drops we could get if we act first and take out the monsters nearby before anyone else does. We need equipment, better weapons for one, but armor and potions come first. Defense needs to be our top priority."

"Dude," Jae muttered, "The drops may vary when it comes to bosses, but they're the same every time the normal mobs respawn. Especially the ones here in Floor 1."

Again Israel shook his head. He was beginning to get angry that they had already begun wasting time, but he wasn't backing down. Every choice they would make could spell life or death for them, let alone the first plan of action with every player in SAO all in the same area and all panicking to boot.

"I read beta reviews too, Jae, and it was said multiple times that in this game, rare and legendary drops are each unique to themselves. Once you find one, there aren't any others like it. I want to go the safe route just as much as you, but that's not by wandering around here just getting EXP when we could be getting that along with col and rare items. It's just not worth it."

Jae still had his doubts, and he didn't remember seeing anything in the reviews about only one of every rare item, but if there was a chance it was true, a rare item would give them a better safety margin than any five safe quests. He also knew that they couldn't afford to continue wasting time. Dipping his head in a nod of agreement, Jae started forward.

It took them almost a half hour to find their way out of the sprawling safe zone, which was almost the size of a real life city. By the time they reached the front gates, they could see dozens of players already far afield, either exploring or battling with the monsters that spawned nearby.

Jae and Israel advanced cautiously, often looking behind and around them to be sure they wouldn't be caught unawares by respawning monsters. All ten thousand players had spawned into the game with a rusty level 1 short sword in their inventory, not to mention the mirror Kayaba had given each of them that gave their real life appearance to their avatars. Though Jae and Israel were no strangers to swords, or to team fighting, they were still figuring out the combat mechanics of the game, so they stayed close together as they drew their blades and advanced on a pack of level 1 wild boars that hadn't yet been targeted by the other players.

"Ok," Jae shouted as three of the boars began to charge them, "Let's take care of these before moving on to the rest of the pack."

With a single nod in answer, Israel closed ranks with Jae. Shoulder to shoulder now, the two of them braced themselves as the first boar reached them. Taking on a defensive stance, Israel lowered his sword to block the attack, realizing too late that he had failed to time it right. The boar's tusks tore at his legs, tearing his pants and sending him sprawling to the ground.

Seeing his health points drop by 50 out of his maximum 300, Israel struggled to reign in his rising panic. The game's combat mechanic was incredibly realistic, but timing and reaction speed seemed to be of particular importance, and Israel was beginning to see that mastering them would be key to winning battles.

Israel tried to get back on his feet, but the boar was already on him again. Once again, Israel lowered his sword in an attempt to block, and this time, the boar's tusks crashed against his sword, sending a shower of sparks flying in all directions. The animal's fiery red eyes burned with hatred as it attempted to use brute force to push past the blade, and Israel met the stare with a glare of his own. With a roar of rage, Israel bashed the pommel against the beast's head, knocking it off it's feet as it flew backwards.

Jumping back to his feet with his sword at the ready, Israel was about to charge the beast head on, when suddenly Jae's blade came down in one blinding flash, severing the boar's head from it's body. The carcass exploded, causing thousands of pixelated glass shards bursting outwards in all directions.

Nodding in thanks to Jae, Israel saw the second boar rushing his friend from behind. Knowing Jae wouldn't be able to block the blow in time, Israel dashed forward without hesitation. Picking up speed as he spun around Jae, Israel used the momentum to power his sword, allowing it to begin it's arc through the air even as he continued his charge. He could hear the blade sing as it completed it's journey home. Just as the boar jumped forward to complete its charge into Jae, who was now turning in surprise, it's face and tusks were torn apart by the end of Israel's blade, sending the monster crashing head first to the ground.

Without giving it a chance to rise, Israel pivoted on his left foot and spun back around, this time keeping his sword perfectly horizontal in the air. Just as the half blinded beast stumbled to it's feet, Israel launched the tip of his sword through the left side of the monster's head and out through it's ruined right eye. As his sword was freed amidst a second shower of shards, Israel turned, only to see Jae beside him again as the third and final boar reached them.

Without even bothering to block, both brothers screamed in unison as they brought both their blades down in one devastating, combined overhead strike, slicing the entire boar in half from snout to tail before it could touch them.

Even as the digital shards flew past them, the two glanced at each other as they panted.

"I'd say we're starting to get the hang of this." Israel grinned.

"And if this wasn't a death game," Jae replied as he tapped his sword against Israel's, "I'd say that was fucking badass."