Using money to create happiness, you can't play if you don't have it! Seiya has always believed this phrase. The gaming experience for someone with money is completely different from someone without.
A wealthy person only needs to move a finger to enjoy the benefits of a VIP, experiencing a one-hit kill that normal people can't. A regular player, on the other hand, must either sacrifice what little hair they have left by grinding through the night, hope they're one of the "chosen ones," or be a naturally gifted technical player.
Seiya isn't rich, but his family's dojo and the significant inheritance left by his grandfather mean he won't have to worry about money at least until he's thirty. Looking at the top-up interface, Seiya didn't hesitate. He maxed out the top-up amount and pressed the confirm button.
The currency in Aincrad is called Cor, with three denominations: Gold Cor, Silver Cor, and Copper Cor, and an exchange rate of 1:100. New players start with only 100 Copper Cor, which is just enough to buy a rusty iron sword and the smallest healing potion.
Out of 10,000 players, some were surely whales, but with the game just starting, Seiya doubted anyone else was crazy enough to spend one million Japanese yen on a game. Aincrad's exchange rate was one yen for one Copper Cor, which means ten thousand yen was one Gold Cor. Seiya's inventory was now filled with 100 Gold Cor.
Everyone else started with 100 Copper Cor, while he started with 100 Gold Cor. What did this mean? It meant his starting wealth was 10,000 times greater than an average player's! If every other player was a free-to-play user, they wouldn't have as much money as Seiya alone.
Of course, if anyone else had done the same, they would probably be pointing and laughing at Seiya. But in four hours, they would realize who the true fool was. In four hours, this game would become a real death game!
For most players, the beginning of the game is the most difficult part. The initial panic of being trapped in a game, coupled with a lack of experience and scarce resources, directly led to the majority of SAO's deaths in the early stages. In this game, money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it.
While most high-level rare items and equipment couldn't be bought in shops and were only dropped by defeating dungeon bosses, money was crucial in the early game. With enough cash, you could buy various recovery items and high-quality equipment, significantly increasing your chances of survival. Not every player is like Kirito, who can pull off incredible stunts and survive near-death moments. When the death game begins, once your health bar is depleted, your life ends. Having enough funds to buy recovery items and quality equipment at the start gives you a huge advantage.
While Seiya was lost in the joy of spending money, Kirito finally found his "noob" friend using the party locator function.
"Just as I thought. You really did enter the game with your original look. Well, with your face, people would probably assume you customized it anyway."
When Kirito found Seiya, he immediately recognized him in the crowd. As he expected, his friend had entered the game without changing his appearance.
On the other hand, Seiya looked at the much more mature and resolute-looking Kirito and blurted out, "Wait, who are you, bro?"
"It's me, Kirito! Kirito! Even if you have no gaming common sense, you should at least see my character name right above my head!"
Seiya chuckled at Kirito's annoyance. "I know you're Kirito. I just didn't expect you to create such a mature-looking face for yourself. You must think your original face is too weak, or... too girlish?"
Kirito was infuriated by his friend's teasing. In a role-playing game, the most awkward thing is running into someone you know in real life, because your customized character becomes a target for their teasing. It wouldn't be an issue if they both had customized characters, but Seiya didn't follow the rules, leaving Kirito as the only one to be teased.
"If you keep talking nonsense, I won't teach you the tricks of this game or how to level up quickly." Kirito, feeling that his dignity as a pro gamer was on the line, decided to put Seiya in his place. He was the expert, and Seiya was the newbie.
Their banter unintentionally attracted the attention of a man with brown hair and a headband. He was very friendly and, after overhearing that Kirito was an experienced gamer, stuck to them like glue, hoping to get guidance from the pro himself.
"What do you think?" Kirito asked Seiya for his opinion, as was their custom.
"It's fine. The more the merrier. It'll be less boring this way." Seiya recognized the man with the headband. He was one of Kirito's few friends in the game, a very loyal and trustworthy guy. Seiya believed he was someone worth befriending.
With Seiya's approval, Kirito had no objections. For him, teaching one newbie was the same as teaching two. Besides, if it was just Seiya, his moment of showing off would feel quite hollow.
"I'm Klein. I'm a fan of samurai culture, so when I heard that SAO was a full-dive game centered around swords, I immediately had to get my hands on it." Klein was very outgoing. After hearing that both Seiya and Kirito agreed to let him join, he quickly introduced himself.
"Just call me Kirito," the socially anxious Kirito replied briefly, clearly overwhelmed by Klein's enthusiasm.
"I'm Wenren Seiya. I'm sort of this guy's friend who keeps him in line. I'm mostly playing because he talked me into it. You can just call me Seiya. Nice to meet you, big bro Klein." Unlike Kirito, Seiya was much better at socializing.