Klein, still holding his groin, looked at the gradually disappearing boar and scowled at Seiya. "Fine, Seiya. I took you for a good friend, and you were in on it with Kirito, weren't you? You're a beta tester too!"
It was a fair assumption. If Seiya was a true newbie, what did that make Klein? They were supposed to be beginners together, and while Klein was still fumbling with game mechanics, Seiya was already one-shotting monsters. That move almost blinded him—and he was supposed to be a noob? Kirito couldn't fake it that well!
"Big bro Klein, you've got it all wrong. I really am a first-time player, just like you. If you don't believe me, you can ask this guy." Seiya, seeing Klein's "you fooled me" expression, spread his hands and motioned toward Kirito.
Reluctantly, Kirito nodded. "He really is playing SAO for the first time. The beta test spots were extremely limited; if he was one of them, I'd know."
Seeing that Kirito seemed sincere, and realizing that two experienced gamers had no reason to trick a regular office worker like him, Klein's face lit up with excitement. He grabbed Seiya's shoulders. "I get it! You're using some kind of cheat software, right? We're brothers, so you have to share the good stuff! It might ruin the experience, but experiencing the thrill of a one-hit kill will definitely boost my confidence."
Klein's logic was simple: Seiya wasn't a beta tester, but he could one-shot a monster. The only explanation was illegal third-party software. How else could a newbie be so powerful?
Seiya was speechless. Before he could explain, Kirito, as if his faith had been challenged, immediately shook his head. "That's impossible. SAO is the first game to use NERvGear. As the most advanced mechanical manufacturer, ARGUS, wouldn't allow bugs, let alone cheat software. This was already confirmed during the beta test."
Every hardcore gamer tries to find loopholes and exploits. The SAO beta testers were no different. Unfortunately, even those veterans couldn't find any critical bugs, and cheating was completely out of the question.
"Then how could Seiya one-shot a monster?"
"Seiya one-shot the Frenzy Boar with his own strength. As I said before, besides the system's skills, you can also use your own techniques to chain sword skills. Seiya is a kendo champion in the real world. The skill he just used is a kendo move he knows in real life. He also hit the boar's weak point, which multiplied the damage and allowed him to one-shot the monster despite being the same level."
After hearing Kirito's explanation, Klein's relieved expression froze. He looked at Seiya in disbelief. "Seiya, you're a national kendo champion?!"
"It's nothing worth mentioning. It was just a middle school-level competition."
Both Klein and Kirito were speechless. Kirito, who knew Seiya better, spoke frankly, "But as far as I know, you crushed the second-place winner, right? The judges even said that your kendo skills were good enough to place well in high school-level and even adult-level competitions."
"More importantly, the reason kendo competitions are divided by age is for fairness. Adults have a clear physical advantage over kids. But here in SAO, that gap doesn't exist. Besides the difference in levels and gear, everyone's initial stats are the same. In other words, in SAO, a stay-at-home gamer can defeat a muscular gym rat through sheer skill."
While explaining the difference between SAO and the real world, Kirito slowly drew his one-handed sword and looked at Seiya with a serious expression.
"Seiya, let's have a PvP duel. I just told you the difference between SAO and the real world. In this world, our physical abilities are equal, and our levels and equipment are at their starting point. I have some experience from the beta test, but you have your incredible kendo skills. This is a pretty fair match."
A "PVP" is a player-versus-player duel, or "PK." Kirito hadn't planned on fighting Seiya so soon. He still thought of Seiya as a rookie. But after seeing him one-shot the boar, Kirito couldn't wait. He knew Seiya would pick up "SAO" quickly, but he never expected him to master it this fast! Seeing the level of skill Seiya just displayed, Kirito was worried that if he didn't seize the moment before Seiya was fully comfortable, he might lose his chance for revenge.
No, given Seiya's frightening rate of progress, in just a week or two, he might be the one getting thrashed.
"I see. So all that stuff about SAO helping me with kendo and friends playing games together was just a bunch of nonsense. Your real goal was to beat me, wasn't it, Kirito?" Seiya grinned, calling out his friend.
"So, Mr. Kendo Champion, will you accept my challenge?"