Spending money creates happiness—no cash, no fun!
Seiya had always agreed with that saying. Rich players and poor players lived two completely different gaming experiences.
The rich only had to move a finger to instantly enjoy the supreme VIP treatment—things like one-shotting mobs with a sword swing, pulling ten SSRs in a row—stuff normal people could never experience.
Meanwhile, ordinary players either sacrificed their already-thinning hair staying up all night grinding, prayed to RNGesus for insane luck, or had to rely on extraordinary skill to compete.
Seiya wasn't exactly rich, but his family ran a dojo, and his grandfather had left him a considerable inheritance. At the very least, he wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing until the age of thirty.
Looking at the top-up screen, Seiya didn't hesitate for long. He dragged the slider all the way to the max and hit "Confirm Payment."
The currency in Aincrad was called Cor—with gold, silver, and copper denominations at a 1:100 exchange rate.
New SAO players only started with 100 copper Cor, barely enough to buy a rusty iron sword and a small recovery potion.
Out of ten thousand players, there were bound to be some whales. But with the game only just beginning, Seiya figured no one else would be crazy enough to dump a full one million yen into it right away.
The exchange rate was simple: 1 yen = 1 copper Cor. Which meant 10,000 yen = 1 gold Cor.
And so, at the very start of the game, Seiya's inventory already held 100 gold Cor.
Other players started with 100 copper. He started with 100 gold.
What did that mean? His starting wealth was 10,000 times that of a normal player!
If every other player were F2P, then even combined, all of them wouldn't have as much money as Seiya alone!
Of course, if anyone saw this, they'd probably point at his face and laugh, "What an idiot."
But four hours later, they'd find out who the real idiots were.
Because in four hours, this game would turn into a true death game.
And for most players, the hardest part was the very beginning—panic from being trapped in-game, no experience, scarce resources.
That's why the majority of deaths in SAO happened early on.
Money wasn't everything, but without money, you had nothing.
Sure, rare high-tier items couldn't be bought outright—they had to be dropped from boss fights. But money was still critical early on. You could buy healing items and decent gear to massively increase survival chances.
Not everyone was Kirito, pulling off flashy moves and clutching fights with 1 HP.
Once the death game began, an empty HP bar meant real death.
So, having plenty of cash for healing and quality gear at the start was undoubtedly a huge head start.
While Seiya was still giddy over his whale purchase, on the other side, Kirito had finally tracked down his "newbie" buddy using the party's location function.
"Just as I thought—you really did enter the game with your real face. Well, with looks like yours, other players will just assume you used the character editor anyway."
Kirito spotted Seiya immediately in the crowd. As he had guessed, his friend hadn't bothered changing his appearance at all, so he recognized him right away.
Seiya, staring at the more mature, rugged-looking Kirito, blurted out, "Wait, who the hell are you?"
"It's me—Kirito! KIRITO! Even if you're clueless about games, you could at least read the giant name floating above my head!"
Seiya smirked playfully. "Of course I know you're Kirito. I just didn't expect you to give yourself such a grown-up face. What, did you think your real one was too weak-looking? Or too girly?"
Kirito instantly bristled at the teasing.
One of the most awkward things in role-playing games was running into people you knew in real life. Whatever avatar you made was bound to become their target for jokes.
If everyone customized their face, then sure, no big deal. But Seiya was the one guy who didn't change anything.
So now, the only one getting mocked was Kirito.
"If you keep running your mouth, I won't show you how to level up fast or master the game quickly."
Kirito was the veteran gamer here. Seiya was the noob. Yet right after meeting, he'd been roasted by his friend. His pride couldn't take that, and he felt the need to reassert his authority.
Their back-and-forth, however, caught the attention of a nearby player—a brown-haired man with a bandana.
The guy seemed pretty easygoing. After overhearing that Kirito was a seasoned gamer, he immediately stuck to them like glue, eager to join in and learn.
"What do you think?" Kirito asked his friend out of habit.
"Why not? More people means more company. Better than being bored."
Seiya recognized the bandana guy. He was one of Kirito's rare in-game friends, known for his loyalty and good character. Seiya figured he was someone worth befriending.
With Seiya's approval, Kirito had no objections. After all, teaching two newbies wasn't any harder than teaching one. And honestly, showing off in front of just Seiya would've been boring anyway.
"My name's Klein. I've always loved samurai culture, so when I heard about SAO—a full-dive game centered on swords—I jumped on it right away."
Klein introduced himself enthusiastically once the two agreed to let him tag along.
"Just call me Kirito." Socially awkward as always, Kirito kept his response short.
"Seiya Wenren. You could say I'm this guy's unfortunate friend. Honestly, I only started playing because he dragged me into it. But you can just call me Seiya. Nice to meet you, Klein."
Compared to the socially inept Kirito, Seiya was clearly far better at handling people.
(End of Chapter)