Chapter Fifty-Nine: Preparing to Enter

When Lancer once again saw Kazuto’s younger sister at the school gates, he felt even more helpless. If it had been anyone else persistently calling him a cross-dresser, even if it was a girl, Lancer would have captured them and given them a thorough lesson. But this was the protagonist’s sister. Now, she could act as she pleased because of her status—like an American soldier with immunity, you know? But who knew what would happen in SAO? Maybe he would get the short end of the stick. In the end, he could only watch with a forced smile as Kazuto awkwardly led Suguha away.

“Sigh… Lianhua, isn’t it time you told me what my mission is?” Lancer asked the ring after returning to his apartment.

“Oh, that. You’ll find out once you get inside.”

“By the way, there shouldn’t be any Devil Fruits in this world, so why send me here?” Lancer simply couldn’t keep up with Lianhua’s logic. He could understand being sent to Azeroth as a newbie—after all, there were sentinels and ancient trees, plus the Scourge had the Frozen Throne. The Star-Moon World made sense because of the Holy Grail. But what was special about this world? At best, the technology was a bit advanced. But no matter how advanced, could it possibly rival Gundams?

“Who knows? Figure it out yourself.” With that, Lianhua ignored him, no matter how much he called.

Meanwhile, Lianhua was lying on a cloud-shaped sofa, novel in hand, “Sword Art Online.” She muttered, “Tch, I forgot to arrange a specific death for Kuradeel in the mission. He died too cleanly in the end. And Sugou, that scum, absolutely must die. Next time I assign a mission, what kind of death should I give that guy?”

—The dividing line of beginnings—

“What did I forget? Oh well, it’s probably nothing important.” With that thought, Lancer relaxed and watched the opening CG.

Upon arriving at the floating castle, Lancer first opened the options menu to check whether players were locked in from the start or only after a certain event.

He clicked on the options—

“Just as I thought. Still, let’s get to work.” He didn’t mind—he was prepared. He hadn’t bothered to change his appearance, since he’d have to revert soon anyway.

Once outside the town, he saw wild boars strolling about.

“Wow, what a sight. Even in my era, I never saw such a beautiful place.” In his time, the sky had long since vanished, and during the Age of Arthur, most of Britain was forest, not grassland. He couldn’t help but sigh.

After marveling, he checked his stats—everything was normal. The only difference was that, theoretically, a newly created character shouldn’t have any skills, but he still had four:

“Taunt,” “Poison Coating,” “Weapon Mastery,” “The Ranger’s Justice.”

These four skills were what Lancer earned at the start of his work. Only after experiencing real battle in that world did he realize these weren’t just so-called skills. The heroes’ abilities were all forged through countless trials, not something simply activated by clicking a skill and spending MP.

Taunt was a common tool of his—not simply for battle, but an extension of his sharp tongue. As for characters like Gilgamesh or the Emperor, they were almost immune; their minds couldn’t be swayed by just anyone. The poison coating was useless against heroic spirits. Weapon Mastery, on the other hand, was quite practical—it simply meant striking the same spot with increased force. Even without the skill, the effect could be achieved, just less efficiently. Ranger’s Justice essentially boosted him with drugs.

Because of this, Lancer never thought much about these skills in the Fate world. But in this fully digitized game, perhaps they could be useful once more.

As for the ring on his hand, Lancer barely noticed it—it had become like a part of his body.

Approaching a wild boar, he calmly stared at it. The creature ignored him and circled away. Lancer called out, “Hey, fat pig!”

“Hmmph!” The boar immediately turned and charged at him. Though his body was fictional, Lancer dodged with ease. “Poison Coating!” he called, and a vial appeared in his hand. Pouring its contents onto his beginner’s weapon, a green light glimmered along the blade. He stabbed the boar in the side; instantly, a flashing white light shrouded its health bar. The boar now attacked with normal charges instead of enraged assaults. Lancer struck the same spot again—its health dropped a notch, and he heard:

“Perfect!”

As for finishing moves, Lancer couldn’t be bothered to try. He didn’t believe the boar could apply a debuff. After a few more strikes, the unfortunate boar was converted into data, and Lancer checked his loot.

“Pork x1, coins… Did the novel ever mention the purchasing power of money? I don’t think so. If any readers know, let me know in the comments.”

There was no overpowered loot like in wish-fulfillment stories—no godly artifacts from slimes—but at least Lancer’s data was normal, and thanks to Lianhua, he wasn’t doomed to loot nothing.

While Lancer was shamelessly slaughtering boars and leveling up, he suddenly felt a force pulling him away. “Hey! My level 10 and my pork!”

He arrived in the plaza, where a reaper-like figure hovered in the air, launching into a long-winded speech. When the mention of gifts came, Lancer checked his inventory.

“Hey! Why don’t I have a mirror!” His shout drew everyone’s attention.

“Hm? No mirror? That means you didn’t change your appearance—no big deal.” As soon as those words fell, a flash of light swept the plaza, reverting everyone to their real selves.

“What’s happening?”

“Who are you?”

As cries of alarm rose, the crowd grew restless.

Lancer fell silent, simply watching the reaper’s performance in the sky until it ended.

With that, the real game began.

Lancer kept his eyes on the town’s exit. When he saw a boy and an older man leaving together, he knew their identities at once.

“Hey!”

“Hm?”

“Ah!”

The first voice was Lancer greeting Kazuto; the second was Kazuto’s upon recognizing Lancer; the third was Klein’s startled exclamation at the sight of Lancer.

“Kazuto, where are you headed?” Lancer ignored Klein and asked directly—not out of malice, but simply because he had no reason to talk to Klein yet.

“Hey…” Kazuto sighed, then said, “We’re in this world now, so don’t use outside names.”

“Okay, but what should I call you?”

“Kirito. Remember?”

“Got it. My name’s still the same—you know that, right?”

“Yeah. Let’s add each other as friends.”

“Sure.”

Klein watched the two ignore him, unsure how to join in—until he finally found an opening.

“Hey, Kirito—” She took care to note the distinction between “he” and “she” in Japanese. “Is she, like you, a beta tester?”

“Uh?! Relax.”

“Huh? Ah!!”

Lancer struck him in the stomach with a punch. It didn’t do much damage—there were no weapons, and Kayaba Akihiko had set the pain system so low it barely hurt—but the visual effect was impressive. Klein’s avatar actually warped from the blow.

“Remember, old man, I am a boy, okay?” Lancer smiled sweetly, voice almost coquettish. If not for the recent incident, Klein would have thought he was looking at a cute little girl. But now…

“Yes, sir!”

“Not bad, you’ve got potential.” Lancer flashed another smile.

Watching Klein being toyed with by Lancer, Kirito—now using his in-game name—decided to step in and save his new friend. “Lancer, enough. That’s my friend, not one of those poor kids at school.”

“All right, since you say so, Kirito, I’ll stop. Let’s introduce ourselves properly. My name is Arthur Pendragon.”

“Uh, nice to meet you. I’m Klein.”