The Strongest Eriri in History

Upon logging in for the first time, everyone appears in the starting plaza. But since the plaza's area is vast, it isn't easy for players in the center to leave simply by running.

Thus, leaving the starting plaza only requires a thought to teleport to a nearby town.

However, to return to the starting plaza again, a specific teleportation crystal is required.

Teleportation circles exist between towns, allowing players to easily transfer to distant towns for a certain fee.

Eriri and her group didn't stay in the starting plaza for long and soon arrived in a bustling town.

Since players were just beginning to progress, the current vendors in the town were all NPCs.

However, these NPCs weren't merely programmed characters. When Lala set them up, she endowed them with a certain level of intelligence and emotion, much like the artificial beings in Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld.

To these NPCs, this new Sword Art Online was their world, and they felt no surprise at the players suddenly appearing within it due to certain program implants.

Not only that, but anything possible in real life could also be done in the game, including certain indescribable activities.

However, for such activities to occur, both parties must consent, and it must be done in a purchased house.

In public spaces, all such activities are strictly prohibited. Any player attempting to forcibly engage in such actions will receive severe system punishment—at best, a reset to the starting level, and at worst, a permanent ban from the game.

Thanks to Lala's efforts, this game world could be considered a real, functioning world—just with the difference that "players" could be resurrected.

However, when a player dies, they will randomly drop one item of equipment, and upon resurrection, they will lose ten levels.

The maximum achievable level for players in this game is 999. As for Level 1000, that remains a mythical level reserved solely for the game's administrators.

Of course, this level restriction on ordinary players didn't apply to Eriri and her group.

The fact that they hadn't immediately boosted themselves to Level 1000 was simply because they wanted to enjoy the game experience.

If they wanted, they could easily reach Level 999 with a single strike.

Although they hadn't forced their levels higher, they lacked none of the God-Level equipments.

Additionally, as they leveled up, their full set of equipment would upgrade to the strongest available in each game version.

"Whoa, this game is amazing!" After a fierce cooperative battle where they took down a small outdoor boss, Ruri Gokou exclaimed excitedly. "And I can feel my combat skills improving. I wonder if that'll carry over to my real body."

"Why don't you test it after we log off?" said Chika Fujiwara, skillfully twirling her sword, also delighted.

Both she and Ruri Gokou had initially trained under Kanae in the Flower Breathing technique. Though they hadn't had much chance to use it since facing the Villains Chat Group, now they could fully put it to good use in the game.

In this Sword Art Online, skills could be obtained from defeating bosses, or players could create new ones themselves.

Like in the original Sword Art Online, this version had no class divisions; players could wield any weapon they wanted, be it swords, spears, or polearms—as long as they could handle it.

Of course, players with special talents could also use magic.

For instance, Eriri casually threw a fireball at a wild boar standing a few meters away. The boar was instantly engulfed in fierce flames.

The defeated boar dropped a few coins and a few slabs of quality boar meat.

At this moment, Asia approached Ruri Gokou and the others, extending her hands toward them. Soon, a powerful healing spell descended over Ruri Gokou and her friends.

Feeling her health fully restored in a short time, Chika Fujiwara gave Asia a cheerful smile. "Thank you, Asia-chan."

"No problem, it's my duty!" Asia replied with a shy wave of her hand before retreating back to Eriri's side.

So far, Asia still felt quite unfamiliar with group members like Chika Fujiwara and Ruri Gokou, whom she had only recently met, and couldn't interact as casually with them as she could with Kanae and the others.

…

Meanwhile, several hundred kilometers away in another town, Yuzuru Hanyu was wandering the streets with a look of wonder.

When she first discovered that Sword Art Online existed in this world, she was utterly baffled.

Initially, she thought the world she had crossed into was a blend of Saekano and Sword Art Online, a composite anime world. But upon seeing the promotional video for Sword Art Online and learning about its production company, her confusion only deepened.

While the game's structure aligned with the Sword Art Online she knew, its game map and mechanics were completely different.

Not to mention, the game's scale was global, making it nothing like the "death game" she remembered.

And the fact that the game was developed by a company under the Sawamura Group only made her suspect that another more capable transmigrator might have also entered this world.

Her literary plagiarism system could only replicate novels, but this person seemed to have copied a fully immersive game—and even made revolutionary improvements.

Initially, she had planned to replicate Sword Art Online in this world as well, but after discovering that the game already existed, her plans were essentially scrapped.

Yuzuru Hanyu's cute appearance attracted several male players on the streets, and many came over to chat with her, making her feel quite uncomfortable.

Neither in this life nor in her previous one had she ever interacted much with boys; her carefully cultivated image at school in her past life had been geared entirely toward other girls.

Moreover, her thoughts were currently focused on finding a way to win over Eriri, so she had no interest in these advances, which only served to irritate her.

Thankfully, the game had protective measures in place, so she wasn't concerned about being forcibly harassed by these players.

The game rules were presented to every player as a prominent announcement upon logging in, so most players were well aware of the game's regulations and punishment system.

However, people who think themselves exceptional are never in short supply.

While many players kept the rules in mind, others ignored the announcement entirely and promptly forgot it.

And it seemed one such self-assured player was among those trying to chat up Yuzuru Hanyu.

The player, with shoulder-length dyed yellow hair, wore a cocky smirk that made him look like an idle delinquent.

"Hey, little missy, why don't you hang out with me? I'm a pro at this game. Stick with me, and I'll make sure you're one of the top players. You'll be able to make loads of money," he said, following Yuzuru Hanyu like a shadow, as though unwilling to let her go without her agreement.

His eyes roamed over her petite frame with a lecherous gleam.

Since the default outfit was relatively modest, he couldn't actually see anything, and could only eye her dark clothing with frustration.

"Listen, I'm warning you—stop following me. I've got connections, and I'll have you kicked out of the game if you don't back off," Yuzuru Hanyu glared at the yellow-haired man in annoyance, quickening her pace.

Although she was bluffing, her mention of "connections" wasn't entirely a lie.

After all, she was at least friends with Eriri. Since Eriri had rescued her from two troublemakers once before, they had gotten to know each other a bit.

But she'd forgotten to get contact information back then, a fact she regretted to this day.

She worried, too, that Eriri might have forgotten her after so long without contact.

Yet Eriri had already made a note of her; Yuzuru Hanyu just didn't realize it.

In this game, when players log out, their characters don't disappear as data but remain where they left off in a sleeping state.

Logging out is only safe in designated areas, such as owned homes, rented inns, or places where someone is actively guarding the player's body.

In-game homes cannot be broken into without the owner's permission.

The same applies to inns; even the innkeeper cannot enter a room without the renter's consent.

However, if the rental period expires without renewal, the player is forcibly evicted.

This was why Yuzuru Hanyu put up with the yellow-haired man's harassment instead of logging out; logging out now would mean leaving her character at his mercy, something she found intolerable.

Although her character would be protected from assault by the system even while unconscious, other forms of harassment were still possible, such as being killed or dragged to disturbing places.

So she refused to abandon her character in the middle of the street—it would be an embarrassing situation, and she could easily imagine it becoming gossip on game forums by the next day.

However, the game offered a novice protection period, allowing new players to stay at an inn for free for three days. After that, they'd have to pay to stay.

The three-day window was enough for new players to learn the game and earn coins by defeating monsters.

If worse came to worst, they could also exchange real money for in-game currency.

Yuzuru Hanyu made her way toward the nearest inn, determined to escape the yellow-haired man.

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" he taunted with a mocking grin, ignoring her threat. "But you're really cute when you're mad! Why don't you be my girlfriend? I'll treat you real nice. I've got lots of friends too; I can take you to all sorts of fun places."

Yuzuru Hanyu ignored his words entirely, her steps never faltering.

Luckily, he was keeping a two-meter distance; otherwise, she would've already drawn her starter sword to fight him to the end.

After a while, the yellow-haired man grew frustrated with being ignored.

Seeing that no one was nearby, he decided to forcefully take Yuzuru Hanyu away.

He'd done similar things in real life, and in this lawless game world, he felt even bolder.

However, before his hand could touch the edge of her clothing, a blinding flash of lightning appeared in the sky and struck him directly.

His pain sensors spiked a hundredfold, and his screams filled the air as the lightning scorched his body.

After a minute, he crumbled into ashes, his consciousness thoroughly shattered. Even in the real world, he'd be left mentally broken, a mere shell of his former self.

These punishment mechanisms were all Eriri's suggestions to Lala. When it came to this kind of assault, Eriri had zero tolerance.

The system had foolproof recognition, easily discerning the intent of those who attempted assault or murder through shifts in their mental state.

Since the game launched, the yellow-haired man wasn't the only player to suffer punishment for such behavior.

Some retained their sanity despite the hundredfold pain but would never log into Sword Art Online again.

Additionally, for each punished player, the system publicly announced their crimes and any real-world offenses, broadcasting this information across the game and real-world news platforms alike.

There was no path to redemption.

Yuzuru Hanyu stared at the scene in a daze, surprised at the extent of the system's punishment, though she had known about the strict penalties against harassers.

Still, she felt no sympathy for the yellow-haired man, finding his fate quite satisfying.

After all, Yuzuru Hanyu had never been one to play the saint.