Chapter 357 Hidden NPC ‘Arzeus’

"Could it be that it's a Pokémon?"

Kirito immediately guessed this possibility.

He had seen Madara's Pokémon. If they were left in the wild, they might be mistaken for wild monsters.

But 'Sirona' said that Pokémon are friendly creatures and they are one of the player's best friends, so it is not surprising at all that they have a green name.

The most important thing is.

He asked Klein, and he also had a [Diamond Contract] in his backpack.

This means that this thing may be an 'initial item' that every player has in their backpack.

Fifty thousand players and fifty thousand diamond contracts, does this mean that every player has the possibility of becoming a 'trainer'.

But if you want to be a trainer, you need to own a Pokémon.

So, does this also mean that there are at least 50,000 Pokémon in the game?

It was precisely because of these that Kirito could immediately judge that the [Ratad] he just saw was probably a 'Pokémon'.

"I must find a Pokémon in the future."

Kirito has impressions of ‘Darkrai’ and ‘Wind Speed ​​Dog’.

It can play a very powerful auxiliary role in battle, which is even ten thousand times more powerful than some stupid teammates.

According to the information revealed by Sirona during the closed beta period, even Pokémon of the same race have strong individual differences, which are mainly reflected in their personalities.

But in terms of strength, there is basically no big difference between all Pokémon. At least they are balanced compared to the real world.

Like players, all Pokémon have the same initial values, and the same number of power-up points available for each level.

Kirito now has no time to spend on Pokémon in the wild. His top priority now is to improve his strength in this death game.

You can look for Pokémon later when you go up a little bit.

"I wonder if the three of them are also trapped in the game."

Kirito muttered a little worriedly.

He didn't see those three people in the teleportation array area just now.

Although it is disappointing, it is also expected.

After all, what he is using now is his true appearance, so the three of them should be the same.

Their appearance and names have changed, so how can they recognize each other?

However, he thought that as long as those three people came in, Kirito would be able to find them sooner or later.

If the difficulty of this death game for most players is at the 'purgatory' level, then the difficulty for those three people is only at the 'normal' level at most; others are lingering in this world, but they can have fun in this world.

Kirito knows very well how powerful those three people are, and they will definitely be noticed and even hugged by other players. By then, the three people will definitely be very famous, and he will always pay attention to this news.

While these people were heading to their respective destinations, Duck also succeeded in becoming a cat in the starting town.

In the original work, it took the players two months to break through the first level, which was also the longest level. The main reason was that they couldn't pass the psychological level and were unorganized and undisciplined. Later, they got better.

Now that the number of people has increased to five times, even if the difficulty of the monsters has been increased, the time must be shorter than the two months in the original work.

If players react faster or pay attention to the existence of Pokémon, then this time may only take more than a week.

In the starting town, there is an inconspicuous little shop on the outskirts.

"Well, let's see if any players come over."

Dark grinned and looked at a mission he had just made up.

At this moment, it was less than an hour before Kayaba Akihiko's performance ended.

Some mentally fragile players may still be in the collapse stage or stuck in a state of confusion and confusion.

Some players with strong enough psychological qualities and good brains may have gone to surrounding towns to complete tasks like Kirito.

The reason why we don’t grab tasks in the starting town is not because the tasks here are not good, but because the tasks here will be divided up by everyone in a day or two.

Tasks are different from wild monsters. Once they are completed, they are completed. Unless it is a ‘daily task’, other tasks will not be refreshed.

However, daily tasks only provide so little currency and minimal experience, which will definitely not meet the needs of players.

Instead of competing with so many people for resources in the starting town, it is better to go to other towns to pick up some high-quality quests. After completing one, you can pick up another quest before other players arrive.

Among this group, the closed beta players who know some information about the missions and wild monster strongholds obviously have an absolute advantage.

Finally, there is a group.

They are ordinary players who have enough mental endurance but are not so smart or have little experience in online games.

They were more than adequate than those above, and they were piled up in the starting town, running around taking tasks, and started on the road to improve themselves.

Dak's side is a rare NPC hidden in the town, which can provide hidden tasks.

If the number of people in the open beta is small, it may take a few days for players to find Dak in such a nook and cranny.

But now there are at least 45,000 people in the starting town, and at least 15,000 of them have already started taking action.

This also resulted in Dak's location being quickly discovered.

Squeak~

The dilapidated wooden door made a heart-shaking sound.

The visitor seemed to hesitate because of the voice, not knowing whether to turn around and go to other places to find tasks.

But after a second of mental struggle, she decided to walk into the store and take a look.

"Hello, may I ask?"

Silica walked into the store and could only see a long-haired NPC sitting behind the counter.

From the back, she couldn't even tell whether it was a man or a woman.

She quickly glanced at the layout of the store and felt that it seemed to be a wrong choice to enter here.

Because there was nothing in this small broken store, so what kind of decent reward could the NPC of this store give?

But she had no other choice, the group of people outside were already crazy.

The game does prohibit players from attacking each other in peaceful areas, but basic "pushing" behavior can still be done. A large number of players "push" each other to compete for tasks.

Although Silica is a petite girl, the physical attributes in the game are the same now. Logically, she can also push those male characters.

But she didn't dare.

The natural weakness of women's physical fitness in the real world made her subconsciously think that it was the same in the game, so she didn't dare to resist.

Not only that, but the male players also think that Silica is a girl, so she must be weaker and it must be easier for her to snatch quests.

This subconscious psychology can only be reversed after one or two months when players thoroughly understand the mechanism of SAO.

As a result, the ‘weak’ Silica had no way to snatch quests in the town center where NPCs gathered, and was forced to try her luck in the marginal areas.

“Welcome, adventurer.”

‘Someone came so soon. Isn’t this the girl who likes Kirito? ’

Dark turned around to have a ‘conversation’, and was stunned when he saw Silica.

In the original work, Silica’s real name is Ayano Keiko, who has a rare secondary occupation ‘tamer’ and is called ‘dragon master Silica’ by players in the middle area.

Silica is also accompanied by a blue dragon servant named Bina, the same name as Silica’s cat in the real world.

Bina's existence is very similar to Pokémon, or it can be said that it is simply the 'Pokémon' in Sword Art Online, but Bina is just a group of data and has no self-awareness.

"Um, is there anything I can help with?"

Silica was also stunned when she saw 'Arzeus', after all, the latter is extremely handsome.

In the NPC group, characters with high looks are basically not ordinary, either the protagonist or the villain, anyway, it is impossible to be a passerby character.

In normal times, Silica might have to communicate with this NPC to see how to increase her favorability, but now is not the time for her to be crazy.

"Of course, I am worried now."

Dark raised one hand to support his chin, sighed, and pretended to be worried and anxious.

"Please let me help you!"

Silica shook his hand excitedly.

Finally, I will receive the task!

"Do you know Pokémon?"

Dark glanced at Silica.

"Ah? I know!"

Silica thought about it and nodded.

Although she was not a closed beta player, she had paid attention to the closed beta content of SAO before, and knew that there was a sub-profession called "Trainer" and "Pokémon" in the closed beta.

Pokémon is equivalent to "familiar" and "pet" in other online games.

But Silica remembered that a closed beta player revealed that Pokémon is a very rare creature and no one knows how to obtain it. Among the 1,000 closed beta players, only the three most powerful players have it.

'Did I encounter a rare "Pokémon" mission? ! '

Silica's mentality, which was originally on the verge of collapse, finally recovered a lot.

I heard that Pokémon is a very powerful partner. If she can have a Pokémon, then her chances of surviving this game will be greatly increased.

"Great, then I don't have to explain it. Please look here."

Dark took out a map of the first floor.

Silica took a look and her eyes widened.

Even the ‘maze area’ is clearly visible on this map, but for players, the ‘maze area’ is a place they need to explore by themselves, and it is completely dark on the player map.

From this moment on, Silica realized that there was something wrong with the NPC in front of her!

It is likely to be a hidden NPC!

Thinking about the hidden place she was in at this moment, Silica became more determined in her inner thoughts.