SAO's "exploiters" weren't limited to Kirito alone.
Back when everyone still treated this as just a game, resources were important, but it wasn't like they were worth fighting to the death over.
But now, things had completely changed.
SAO had become a real death game!
In a world where you only had one life, every game resource became a crucial guarantee for survival.
It was easy to predict—soon, all the limited resources in the starting villages would be fought over relentlessly.
This wasn't about whether you should grab them or not. In a world full of danger, who wouldn't want to grow stronger and survive to the very end?
As a beta tester, Kirito naturally knew where the starter village resources were located. So he immediately wanted to bring Seiya and Klein along.
However, Klein explained that he had entered the game with his real-life friends.
He also knew his own limits—traveling with Seiya and Kirito would only slow them down. So he chose to part ways on his own.
Seiya and Kirito respected his decision, then hurried at top speed toward the nearest quest resource point.
But reality proved that Kirito wasn't the only clever one in this world.
By the time they arrived, every single quest resource had already been cleaned out by others.
Seeing this, Kirito let out a long, heavy sigh.
This was the closest quest hub. If they were already too late here, then there was no point rushing to other places.
"Who said all the quests are gone? Look at that shrewd-looking guy over there—isn't he a quest NPC?"
At first, Kirito's face lit up when he followed Seiya's gaze, thinking maybe other exploiters had missed something.
But when he saw the man Seiya pointed to, his expression immediately dimmed again.
"You're right, he is a quest NPC.
But the reason other players didn't take his quest isn't because they overlooked it—it's because they can't."
Seeing Seiya's puzzled look, Kirito explained, "That NPC is called 'Greedy Merchant Macy.' His problem is that his cargo was raided by a pack of wolves on the plains.
If we complete his quest, he'll reward us with a rare early-game one-handed sword—the Windflower Blade."
"The wolves are far stronger than the Frenzied Boars. And since they're pack monsters, it's even worse.
The one that robbed Macy's cargo was the 'Dire Wolf Leader'—a field BOSS-class monster.
Of course, I know its mechanics well from the beta. With just the two of us, it's tough, but not impossible.
The real issue is… to even accept Macy's quest, you have to pay a deposit of 1 Gold Cor. "
After hearing that, Seiya immediately understood why Kirito had said the quest wasn't something just anyone could take.
At the start, every SAO player only had 100 Copper Cor.
But 1 Gold Cor was worth a full 10,000 Copper Cor. Where would a player find that much money at the beginning?
During the beta, if you failed against the Dire Wolf Leader, you wouldn't get the deposit back.
And now, failure meant not only losing money—but losing your life.
Sure, high risk brought high reward. But the massive upfront cost alone was enough to scare off almost everyone.
Even in the beta, Macy's quest wasn't taken until much later, when players had already reached beyond the 5th floor. By then, fighting a floor-1 field boss was trivial.
"Let's just take this quest. We don't have much of a choice now, do we?"
Watching Seiya walk straight toward the NPC, Kirito could only follow helplessly.
He assumed Seiya would try bargaining with the NPC, but already knew what the result would be.
Plenty of beta testers had tried before, and without exception, they'd all been refused.
"You two are adventurers planning to recover my stolen goods from those damn wolves?
But my cargo is extremely valuable. If you were to run off with it, I'd be in big trouble.
So you must first pay a deposit of 1 Gold Cor. There's no room for negotiation."
Hearing Macy's words, Kirito wore an expression that said, See? I told you so.
But before he could advise Seiya not to waste time, Seiya stunned him by pulling out a gleaming gold coin.
"Mr. Macy, was it? Don't worry, we understand the rules. We're not like those penniless peasants earlier—we're noble sons from a great city, just here to experience adventuring.
A mere 1 Gold Cor means nothing to us, and we'd never covet your goods."
After tossing Macy the gold coin, Seiya then pulled out a whole handful more—dozens of them glittering like treasure.
Kirito froze. Even Macy, the greedy merchant himself, was left speechless.
That pile of gold… at least several dozen Gold Cor!
Such wealth wasn't just absurd for floor 1—even at the 8th floor in the beta, that would have been a staggering fortune.
SAO's NPCs had advanced AI; they weren't bound to rigid, canned lines.
So when Macy saw Seiya's jaw-dropping wealth, his scornful demeanor changed instantly.
"Oh! My apologies, noble gentlemen! I had mistaken you for those poor adventurers earlier.
Since you are willing to help, there is no need for a deposit at all. Macy is a man of trust.
If you would honor me by frequenting my humble business in the future, I'd be forever grateful."
So this was why he was called the Greedy Merchant. His tone and attitude flipped instantly the moment Seiya flashed his fortune.
In the end, not only did Seiya and Kirito get the quest, they didn't even need to pay the deposit.
Once they left the town, Kirito, who had been barely holding back his curiosity, finally blurted out in disbelief, "Oi, you didn't actually do what Klein said, right? Did you seriously hack the game!?"
(End of Chapter)