Kaito was dragged by Ako to the teleportation array near the World Tree. After paying a fee of 1 silver coin per person, the three teleported to the top of the World Tree.
Here, there were even more streets and houses. The peripheral houses on the branches were specifically provided for players.
Naturally, house prices here were also ridiculously expensive, but it was good.
Not to mention the environment of the World Tree, stepping outside was the most prosperous player trading area, various NPC trading areas, and also the largest auction house and the giant teleportation gate that could teleport anywhere.
To go to [Aincrad], they also had to enter through this teleportation gate.
When Kaito and the others appeared here, they attracted many people due to their appearance.
But considering that the current character creation system allowed unlimited beautification to make oneself look good and young, even tall and muscular, with the only new rule that they couldn't change gender, it was just a matter of who could create the best.
Probably some people were still fiddling with character creation on the login screen.
Because of this, everyone just glanced at Kaito and the others with surprise and envy, then each went off to form parties.
Now, everyone needed to quickly level up and fight monsters, securing the most abundant top resources first. Otherwise, falling behind would mean falling further behind with every step.
"Wow, I really want to buy a house here..."
Ako looked at an introduction for a house, clicked to view the information, and was immediately attracted.
Mika also looked tempted. Judging by her expression, she was probably thinking of using her GM functions to farm money and buy a house.
Well...
For them, houses built in the air were really too attractive.
Looking down at the earth from a thousand meters high, it would be incredibly satisfying, especially at night.
If you wanted a better one, there were villas with their own gardens. The branches would automatically shade your house, etc., completely your own living space.
As for the price...
From the cheapest, needing 8 million gold coins, to the most expensive, over 100 million.
'Damn, the price variance was this big?'
In fact, it's not that amazing. After all, in the original work, Asuna bought a comfortable and convenient house on the prosperous 61st floor for 4 million Col.
And Col can be regarded as gold coins.
Because this game, with more comprehensive systems and more player participation, had smaller and larger currency units.
As for Kirito, he seemed to have spent 500,000 Col to live by the lake on the 22nd floor.
Due to the lower floor level, although the environment was good, it was destined not to be a prosperous area, plus travel time, etc. Selling it that cheap was understandable.
It was like a commercial apartment in the city center versus one on the city outskirts.
Considering that the World Tree was a transfer station location, plus the largest player market and auction house, selling it this expensive was understandable.
"If you have an idea which one you want to buy, let's keep it in mind for now. We can buy it later, it's not too late."
Kaito also took a flyer from an NPC, put it in his backpack, and set it aside for now.
How could any player afford it at this stage?
Unless that player was 'Heathcliff', aka Kayaba Akihiko's character.
No, even he couldn't reveal himself immediately.
All players were diligently fighting monsters for money, frantically accepting and completing quests, striving for those few gold coins.
Then you whip out tens of millions or hundreds of millions of gold coins to buy a house...
Players would probably explode with anger, and the jealous ones might even immediately become [Laughing Coffin]!
To avoid trouble, Kaito didn't immediately create money to buy it.
"Oh?"
While queuing at the giant teleportation gate, a string of numbers appeared in the sky.
This number wasn't a countdown; it was probably the maximum number of players online.
"This is... nearly 20 million players online?"
This game was global. Nearly 20 million players online was very normal.
If the supply of game helmets was sufficient, this number could increase further.
—Ding
[Congratulations! The new Sword Art Online has broken through the 20 million concurrent players mark! As a commemorative reward, all players will receive 1 gold coin!]
"Heh, only 1 gold coin? You're even worse than Sweet Flower Made Chicken!"
Everyone happily accepted the 1 gold coin, but some, like Kaito, complained about the game planners being stingy.
Commemorating 20 million concurrent players, giving only 1 gold coin as a reward. If that's not stingy, what is?
…
[Aincrad]
First Floor — Town of Beginnings.
At this time, it was already packed with people. Additionally, Aincrad must have considered the population, so it was much larger than in the original work.
At the very least, the plaza in the Town of Beginnings alone could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.
Kaito recalled the game content, started leading Mika and Ako to buy a few bottles of HP restoration potions at a store, and then headed to the fields to start adventuring.
As expected, there were too many players. Many different players were frantically competing for monsters.
Thinking it over, Kaito decided to go to a level 5 monster area.
That area basically had few players yet.
"No one here, just enough for me to stretch my limbs."
Just traveling took an hour and a half. Probably many players were unwilling to come, plus there were no corresponding quests. To skip levels and kill level 5 monsters, the vast majority of players would definitely prefer to grind some lower-level monsters first to increase combat experience and proficiency.
After all, this game had a death penalty. Die once and you lose 1 level!
"Onii-chan... you're so embarrassing..."
"Ahahaha... Cough cough! Who knew the game would change so much in three years?"
"Clearly your swordsmanship is just too weak. Look at me, even without using your so-called sword skills, I can still kill them easily."
"Cough cough... How could I possibly compare to my little sister..."
Kirito, a black-haired man who still had a bit of a baby face, sighed helplessly.
Last year, his sister, Kirigaya Suguha, was already a top 8 national competitor in the youth kendo tournament. Now, a year later, she had even become the champion!
At 16, against such outstanding kendo, as her older brother, he naturally felt embarrassed.
After all, he was the one who brought his sister here, wanting to show off a bit, only to be counter-killed by a level 5 wolf.
Back during the beta test 3 years ago, he had single-handedly cleared several floors with impressive results!
But who knew the game 3 years ago would be so different from the game now! Plus, the sword skills he practiced in the game had become rusty...
If Suguha hadn't saved him, he might have died.
"By the way, Onii-chan, hasn't your foreign classmate, Eugeo, arrived yet?"
"Eugeo should be on his way here. Hehe, I'm still his master~"
"...Oh please. I think you're just too weak, Onii-chan. Look at that big brother over there. He's also level 1, but he's taking on three level 5 wolves without any problem, even killing them easily!"
"!!!"
Kirito immediately straightened up and looked in the direction Suguha was pointing.
'Wha...'
'It's a pro!!!'