Although it was a game, it wasn't a joke.
Those who didn't take it seriously, the blindly arrogant, those unprepared, and those seeking death, would undoubtedly say goodbye to their original world.
From the moment Kaito logged in, he sensed the party's not-so-good atmosphere.
After asking, Asuna told him that last night, many people who went out to fight had gradually reported news of player deaths.
That is, after their characters died, they never revived...
That 'Grim Reaper' was telling the truth!
Additionally, everyone discovered one thing: at night, monster ranks increased by 1 level!
That is, ordinary wild boars would become elite monsters after midnight, and they would actively attack players. Even if you didn't approach them, they would roam around like zombies, seeking out living people. Finally, they would pounce and kill them!
Only at 5 AM, when the sun just rose, would those boars revert. Generally, if you didn't approach their specific aggro range, they wouldn't actively attack. Sometimes they'd even act cute in front of you.
Everything seemed unreal.
Later, someone concluded that from midnight to 5 AM, all monsters were enraged.
Whether this applied to bosses was unknown, as no one had found field bosses, nor had they gone to the central tower to search for boss rooms in the dungeon.
Leafa was also worried initially, but seeing that her brother Kirito's name was still lit, and that he had consecutively leveled up twice through night fighting, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Although still worried, as the [Black Swordsman] renowned in gaming circles, Kirito's strength was undeniable.
If other players could survive and return with rich loot, there was no reason Kirito couldn't.
Even though night combat difficulty increased, sometimes higher risk also meant higher opportunity.
Enraged boars, transforming from ordinary to elite, gave experience and drops equivalent to normal elite monsters, so rewards were naturally richer.
"I see... Well, since things have turned out this way, from now on you know what to do. Never relax during combat. Besides that, work hard to get stronger!"
Maybe Kayaba Akihiko thought there were many players, so he created this mechanism.
Making some ambitious players both love and hate it, constantly walking on the edge.
But this would also lead to severe polarization among players.
Whatever. He didn't plan to play forever anyway. When he got tired of playing, he would just use his GM account to clear the game.
Because his GM account, well, actually had quite a bit of authority.
Or rather, Kayaba Akihiko's authority was as great as his account's authority.
Only limited to this world, though. It was hard to say if he went to other worlds, unless other game worlds were built on top of the new SAO underlying code.
That is, using the new SAO game engine or game template to develop new games.
Like SAO and ALO, for example.
Besides that, Kaito could also directly choose to let people log out safely.
Speaking of which...
Should he go find Yui?
Or wait until later. Play for a while first, then raise a daughter.
After that, Mika and Ako also logged in. After everyone had a fairly hearty breakfast at the tavern, Kaito directly led the team back to the level 5 wolf area to fight.
The level cap was 100. Leveling up each level was bound to be very difficult.
But the benefit of leveling up was getting 10 attribute points, which could be added to the seven major character attributes: [HP], [Strength], [Stamina], [Stamina Bar], [Mana Bar], [Attack Speed], [Movement Speed].
Splitting Agility into Attack Speed and Movement Speed was understandable.
Besides that, leveling up also gave 10 skill points, which could directly increase proficiency, skill levels, and passive skill levels, up to a maximum of 500.
For example, One-Handed Sword, Two-Handed Sword, etc.
Proficiency, skills (sword skills, etc.), and passive skills could be increased through daily combat.
Skills included sword skills, skills for casting spells with a staff, etc.
Anyway, with skill points, you could quickly increase proficiency and levels. Without skill points, you slowly practiced.
Some people, based on combat needs, would need to switch between different weapons.
So...
To save trouble, Kaito set his own aggro value to the highest.
This way, monsters became like they were enraged at night, seeing Kaito as a mortal enemy, charging to kill him.
And then...
He increased experience by 100%, hid the icon, and silently leveled up quickly with everyone.
Finally...
He secretly modified the drop rate, making high-level rare weapons seem very easy to drop.
Since Ako was always the one looting, everyone thought she was lucky. This made Ako enjoy it endlessly, painfully yet happily running around collecting loot.
In the original work, it was obtained directly, but here, it was changed to require players to manually pick up.
However, if in a party, there was an additional filtering mechanism. Whoever wanted an item rolled the dice, and the highest number got it.
Or the vote could be changed to auction, where each person bid money, and the money would be split equally.
Well, it seemed Kayaba Akihiko, after three years of polishing, had copied quite a few features for this game.
Adding both of these loot distribution methods at once, he really was something.
"S-so amazing... For some reason, with Captain Kaito around, it feels like there's no difficulty at all..."
Asuna had been shocked from the beginning. She thought Kaito was just a pro gamer, but it turned out he was also a top-tier kendo grandmaster!?
It seemed Leafa hadn't lied to her!!
No wonder Leafa kept calling him master. After all, Leafa was the renowned youth kendo champion of Japan! And it was a mixed-gender national tournament!
"Yeah... I feel like I haven't used my bow much."
Shino echoed from the side.
Her current state was: I started, but I didn't really start.
Holding the bow, drawing the string, unable to shoot.
"Hehe, of course. My master is very strong!"
Leafa said, her face slightly flushed. Whether it was excitement, admiration, or something else, was unclear.
Kaito's fighting stance was like a poison, unconsciously letting her become addicted.
On the other side, Kyoko, standing beside Mika, wasn't much better.
Ever since Kaito had stared at her yesterday, she had been paying attention to Kaito ever since.
Observing Kaito's every move with some unknown intention.
Maybe it was caution, or maybe something else?
But...
'He really is very handsome... Not only is he incredibly handsome, but he can also fight so elegantly and calmly. It really makes me...'
'Makes me...'