A massive castle, built from a grey metallic stone stronger than steel and harder than diamond, floated majestically in an endless sky.
That was all this world was.
It took a month for skilled craftsmen to survey its vast expanse. The base floor alone was as large as a continent, big enough to hold an entire country. Above it, 100 floors stacked on top of each other, reaching into the sky like an unbreakable fortress. The sheer scale was beyond imagination—it was impossible to guess how much data this world contained.
Inside the castle, there's another world. Clear blue skies stretched across each floor, filled with landscapes as diverse as the real world. Towering forests, rolling plains, shimmering lakes—each floor was unique, home to countless towns, villages, and creatures unknown to reality.
But only one stairway connected each floor to the next. These stairways lay in deep inside dungeons, guarded by swarms of powerful monsters roaming. Finding and conquering them was a no easy matter. However, once a floor was cleared, a [Teleport Gates] unlocked, linking that city to all lower levels. This allowed players to travel freely—if they lived long enough to use it.
For two years, many had fought in this colossal castle. And currently on this 74th floor we're at war. with the frontlines pushing even higher on this dungeon floor, there's approximately six hundred thousand battling for to survive, the name of the castle was [Aincrad];
A floating world where only swords decided one's fate.
Otherwise known as—
[Sword Art Online]
A grey flash of steel cut through my shoulder.
The thin green line at the top left corner of my field of vision shrank slightly. At the same time a cold hand passed over my heart.
the HP bar.
"My HP was 1530, down to 1226. That's still over 80%, but... no. I'm 20% closer to death is a better way to put it."
Below it, my blue bar flickered. MP: 1500 to 915.
"60% left... not good. I can only use a few more skills. I need to save enough for my ult skill to make sure".
I use [Dash] skill, retreating backward just before the enemy's sword even began its swing.
My MP bar remained untouched, but beneath it, my grey stamina bar ticked down from 100 to 90. It regenerates at a steady rate of 3.5 stamina per second, but every action counts in battle.
I quickly reviewed my movement options.
[Dash IV] – A quick burst of speed covering 6 meters. Grants 50% armor, costs 10 stamina, and has a 1.5-second cooldown.
[Roll IV] – A short, evasive maneuver of 3 meters. Provides 15% armor, costs only 5 stamina, and has no cooldown, making it useful for continuous dodging, but not ideal because it leaves me vulnerable of attacks.
[Blink IV] – The ultimate escape tool skill. It offers perfect invulnerability, letting me phase through attacks—even area-wide ultimates. Ignoring damage entirely but it has a 25 stamina cost, an 8-meter range, and a punishing 3-minute cooldown. A last resort, meant for emergencies.
Every move I made was a trade-off between distance, protection, and stamina management. I couldn't afford to waste even a single step.
"Haaa..."
I forced out a deep breath, trying to steady myself. The [body] in this world didn't need oxygen, but the one in the real world or rather the body lying down in the real world, would be breathing heavily. My hands would be soaked in sweat, my heart pounding against my ribs off the charts.
Of course.
Even if everything around me was just a high-quality rendering of a virtual reality world, even if that shrinking HP bar in my vision was nothing more than just numbers that showed my hit points, the fact remained—I was fighting for my life.
When you think about it like that, this fight was extremely unfair. The enemy before me—a humanoid figure with dull shining arms covered in dark green scales, a lizard's head, and a thick, powerful tail— was not a human, nor was it really alive and it didn't fear death. It didn't hesitate, even if I cut it down. It was a digital lump that the system would replace regardless of how many times it was killed.
—No.
This Lizardman Lord (a Level 82 monster) wasn't just a disposable enemy. The AI controlling it studied my movements, adapting with each second. But unlike a real warrior, it would never learn from its past mistakes, never carry its experience into another battle.
That made it different from me.
So, in a sense, this lizardman was also alive, a single being unique to this world.
"...Right?"
The lizardman hissed in response. Its fang-lined mouth twisted into a grin showing the sharp fangs, as if it had understood my words.
There was no way that it would have understood the word that I had muttered to myself.
This is reality, everything here is real. There's no virtual reality or fakery, no illusion—only life and death. I shifted my one-handed longsword to waist height, my fingers tightening around the hilt as I watched the enemy.
The lizardman adjusted its stance, raising the buckler in its left hand while pulling back its curved scimitar in its right.
A cold breeze whispered through the dungeon corridor, flickering the light of the torches. The damp stone floor shimmered beneath us, reflecting the eerie glow.
Then—
"Kraaah!!"
A deafening roar shook the chamber. The ten-party raid team, roughly 40 to 50 players, froze. Their hesitation was clear—they wanted to run, to escape. But their feet refused to move. They had no choice but to fight.
A voice—stern, commanding, unshaken—cut through the chaos.
"Don't run! Maintain DPS! This is still winnable!"
At the heart of the raid, a man stood firm with a long sword and a giant shield, his dark green robe longer than his waist with white lines on each edges swaying slightly with the movement of battle. While silver gauntlets and boots gleamed under the torchlight. A sturdy chestplate covered his torso, worn over simple brown combat gear.
He looked like the kind of man who had three kids waiting for him at home—but there was no hesitation in his voice, only absolute confidence.
The lizardman leaped.
Some players turned and ran.
The man's voice boomed across the battlefield.
"Group One and four! What did I just say?! Keep attacking, dammit! You are all not in the danger zone so stay there!"
He didn't stop.
"Open your eyes Group three, eight and nine! Watch its movements! Are you all BLIND!? You all keep missing the signs!"
"Group seventh and five! Get the wounded out of here fast! Group two! Heal them all right now!"
A brief flicker of torchlight illuminated his focused expression.
"He's good." The thought flashed through my mind. "He sees their mistakes instantly—and corrects them before they even realize."
The lizardman's scimitar carved through the air, leaving behind a streak of blazing orange light—
[Fell Crescent]
"Group six! MOVE!!!"
A high-class sword skill, covering four meters in 0.4 seconds. A direct hit meant death.
But I was already moving.
I baited the AI onto me to create this exact moment, stretching the distance between us to make it commit to this attack.
I lunged forward.
The scimitar's fiery arc slashed through empty air, barely centimeters from my face. The burning smell of the attack seared into my senses—
"Ha!"
My sword ignited in sky-blue light, slicing across the lizardman's thinly protected stomach. Red particles scattered through the air instead of blood.
A sharp screech echoed through the dungeon.
But I didn't stop. The system assisted me through the programmed movements and chained skills of slashes, chaining the next strike faster than human reflexes should allow.
This is the most important element in battles in this world—[Special Skills].
My sword cut through the Lizardman's chest in a swift arc. Using the momentum, I spun my body in a full circle, driving my third strike deeper than before.
"Raarrgh!"
The Lizardman Lord recoiled, letting out a guttural roar—a mix of rage and fear. It raised its scimitar high, the orange glow of its next attack forming along the blade.
But my chain skills weren't over. The sword, still in motion, suddenly sprang left, then upward, striking the monster's heart—its critical point.
A sky-blue rhombus traced through the air as my four consecutive hit skill landed in perfect sequence, [Horizontal Square]. The burst of light illuminated the dungeon walls, casting long, flickering shadows. And then—silence. The HP bar above the Lizardman's head vanished.
The massive creature staggered backward, leaving a long trail in the dirt before its body collapsed. Then—like fragile glass— It shattered. Countless polygons scattered in the air before fading into nothing. No corpse, no blood—just perfect destruction.
This is the [Death] of this world.
Instant. Absolute. Not even a trace left behind.
I glanced at the raid team.
"He keeps the deaths to a minimum… he's really good."
Someone muttered those words, almost in disbelief.
I let myself a small smile.
"If this were just a normal game, that is."
But the smile faded as quickly as it came.
Only less than fifty had died. A miracle compared to what it should have been. Usually, only two raiders would survive, maybe even none.
Yet, it didn't feel like we won.
The experience points and drop items appeared in purple text in the center of my vision. I swung my sword once, then twice, before sheathing it on my back. My body slumped against the cold dungeon wall as I slid down, exhaling deeply.
My temples throbbed from exhaustion. I closed my eyes for a moment, forcing the ache away before opening them again.
A digital clock flickered in the corner of my vision—3:12 PM.
I needed to leave the labyrinth before nightfall.
"Should I get started?"
I muttered as I forced myself to my feet. For today, I had survived. I had escaped death's grasp once more. But tomorrow would bring another fight, another battle with no guarantee of victory.
No matter how many precautions you take, no matter how many safety nets you build, one day, lady luck won't be there to save you.
The only question is—Will this game be cleared before I pull the ace of spades?
If survival was my only goal, I could just stay inside a town, waiting for someone else to clear the game. That would be the safest option. Yet, I still came to the front lines every day, alone. Am I just a VRMMO addict who grinds endlessly, desperate to increase his stats?
Or—
Am I just a fool who still believes that this world can be freed by the swing of his sword?
I let out a quiet, self-mocking chuckle.
Then, with a steady step, I turned toward the labyrinth's exit.
As I walked, my mind drifted back.
Back to that day.
Two years ago.
The moment when everything ended—
—And began.