Episode 002: Is Argo a happy person?
"Link Start"
With a familiar effect, Hachiman once again descended upon Aincrad...
(Oh, I landed!? Ah, is this the outfit I used to wear when I was working part-time? I made a mistake, I'll have to start over and make a new character... or was this character still around?)
Hachiman shrugged in exasperation and began to check his appearance and status.
"The name is still Hachiman. I guess my stats will be reverted to the initial state... I'm not going to play it for a long time, it's just for relaxation, so I guess it's fine the way it is...But I see, the effort I put in yesterday, staying up all night excitedly thinking of a name..."
At that moment, Hachiman noticed an unfamiliar effect appearing in the corner of his eye.
(Is this a message from the management or from Akihiko?)
When Hachiman opened the message, it said the following:
["I hope that one day you'll find the genuine thing in this game.I won't say I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll understand.This is not an apology, but I would like to thank you for the equipment that you loved and that I were unable to include in the final version.I managed to squeeze it in. I have it hidden somewhere.If you can find it, make use of it.]
The word "genuine" made Hachiman tremble as he remembered an incident from a few days ago.It was so disgusting that it was sickening.The situation was completely different from when I last talked to Kayaba.This is because Hachiman is already aware of what he wants.
(That's a dark history... Oh, there's one more...)
[It was quite hard to recreate your eyes.]
The moment Hachiman saw the second message, he hurriedly ran to the fountain, then he saw his reflection of his face in the water.
(I guess my eyes are still rotten, even in a VRMMO...)
After being dejected at the cruel reality, He began to think about the meaning of Kayaba's message.
(My favorite weapon is... but it's not something you can easily find in this wide world, I don't think I'll be able to find it. But more importantly, I should be able to figure it out. What do you mean? Well, there's no point in thinking about it, time is limited.)
Hachiman first headed to an open-air market in the commercial district to get his equipment.
(Nothing has changed here, but it was pretty much finished when I played it.)
Hachiman's play style is a super close-combat type with AGI maxed out, I bought a dagger just to be safe, as an experiment, I tried tracing some of the dagger sword skill patterns that I remembered.
Since I don't have enough skill and assist it doesn't work, it goes without saying that the power is weak.
It seems that they were able to properly reproducee me to a mold.
"Well, that's about it. All that's left is some protective gear... I can't leave out the hooded cape that's so popular with loners,This and that with light leather armor, well, that's about all I can afford."
Hachiman looked at himself with a satisfied look, then faded away as much as possible.It's a stealth skill that's essential for a loner. Of course, it's a skill outside of norm.
Although it is unclear how effective it will be, it is certainly better than doing nothing.
Maybe it was because of that he didn't feel anyone's gaze on him. Just as you'd expect from a loner. The title of a loner transcends even the system.
And Hachiman turned around to head out of the city, thinking he might go hunting for the first time in a while, but...
Before I knew it, I bumped into someone standing behind me and stepped on him.
"Oh, sorry"
Hachiman muttered and reflexively apologized, but was shocked to realize what was going on.
(Since when has this guy been standing behind me?!)
Hachiman leapt back and stared at his opponent. Or rather, tried to stare at him.
Hachiman is not yet used to looking people in the eye when talking, In the end, I ended up looking away and couldn't even say anything.
Seeing Hachiman like that, the other person spoke first, probably not out of consideration.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. You were so interesting that I couldn't help but observe you closely. I'm Argo the informant, if you need anything please contact me."
Hachiman glanced at Argo, as he was about to introduce himself, he noticed the tattoo on Argo's face. It looked familiar, so the words just slipped out of my mouth without my will.
"Hey, that mark on your face, where did you get that the quest for martial arts skills I'm pretty sure that's on the second floor."
Argo was inwardly shocked.
This was because, even among the many beta testers, no one other than herself would know about information about martial art skills.But Argo didn't let it slip and began mentally searching for information on the main beta testers.
But of course, no such player was found.
Seeing Argo like that, Hachiman wondered if she hadn't heard him.This time, he introduced himself with impressive communication skills.
"Um, my name is... Hachiman. Nice to meet you."
Argo regained his senses and tried to appear as natural as possible, hiding his inner turmoil.
"Hachiman, hey... then I'll call you Ha-bou. I look forward to working with you."
This time Hachiman was shocked in a different way.
(What's with calling someone by their nickname on our first meeting? Is this guy like Yurigahama-san? and they're both the same in that they have no sense of awareness.)
"Well, more importantly..." Argo suddenly put his face close to Hachiman's ear and whispered.
"Who is Harubo? I don't remember seeing him during the beta test."
The closeness of their faces made Hachiman feel extremely unsettled.
(It's so close! So close! If it keeps going like this I'll fall in love with you! Also, how can you make such a low voice, like someone somewhere!?)
Hachiman broke out into a cold sweat, remembering the cunning student council president, Iroha Isshiki. I took a deep breath to stay calm and thought about the exchange that had just taken place.
(It's probably not a good idea to tell the informant too many things. I'll just say some harmless things for now.)
"Uh, well... I just helped out Kayaba Akihiko a little bit a while ago. Just a little while before the beta test starts."
"They're the same player and I don't think there's that much of an age difference between them. You don't need to be polite, Ha-bo. Even so, you're not helping me...Are you an Argus employee or something " asked Argo
"I met him during a workplace tour, and I helped out a little bit as a part-timer just before the beta... that's all. I don't think I have as much knowledge as a beta tester... I think, probably." replied Hachiman
(Yeah, I don't know what level the beta testers have reached, and I'm not lying.I'm only telling you a part of the information I have. Well, I don't actually know that much about the beta test.) though Hachiman
However, Argo seemed to understand what he was saying to some extent.
"I see, so that's why he moves like that... yes, interesting! if you don't mind, would you mind adding me as your friend for the future?」
Argo said this with a smile and held out his hand, and Hachiman was shocked again.
(What's with this guy? She suddenly started shaking hands. Is she the same race as Hayama? Does that mean she's a real-life person? Holding a girl's hand is too difficult for me! By the way, is it really that easy for people with successful real lives to make friends!?)
At that moment, Hachiman realized something.
(Oh, but that doesn't necessarily mean the person behind is a girl, right? It's an MMO after all.In the first place, it's impossible for me to be asked to shake hands by a girl.)
Thinking like that, Hachiman felt a little less nervous, but he still felt awkward about shaking hands.Just like he had done with Hayama before, he clapped Argo's hand and said:
"O-Okay, well, nice to meet you."
"Well then, contact me if anything happens!"
Hachiman then simply watched in silence as Argo waved goodbye and drove off.
(The hybrid of Yuigahama, Isshiki, and Hayama, and that Argo thing, are seriously awesome.But I'm really glad that Miura and Kawasaki weren't in the mix...If that area had been mixed in, I would have been so scared I wouldn't have been able to say a word.)
Hachiman then regained his composure and set off walking out of the city as planned.Of course, I didn't forget to use my out-of-system stealth skill. Again, the extent of its effectiveness is a mystery.
(I've gotten to the point where I can converse with other people without tripping over my words recently.So my experience over the past six months wasn't a waste.Well, I'm sure I prefer being alone. If only those guys weren't around...)
Once outside the city, Hachiman found a seemingly vacant hunting ground, took a deep breath, and readied his weapon.
I could see a duo nearby calling out to each other "Kirito" and "Klein," but that probably wasn't a problem.
"Now, this is where the real adventure begins."