After eating a quick meal, Lillian bought a few black loaves of bread to take with him before leaving. Since he didn't know how long he might end up staying inside the labyrinth, having some food prepared was always a good idea.
Just as he had thought earlier, since no players had arrived here yet, this was a perfect chance to look around for quests. So as he walked through the streets, heading in the opposite direction from where he had come, he casually struck up conversations with NPCs along the way.
Unfortunately, most of the responses were things like, "Oh, a face I haven't seen before," "Such a young lad," or "Care to buy something?"—completely unhelpful chatter. He didn't trigger a single special quest.
Whether the quests had specific requirements or other hidden conditions, he couldn't tell, but since nothing came of it, Lillian didn't bother wasting more time.
Leaving Tolbana behind, he could already see the towering labyrinth rising from within a lush forest ahead, backed by dark-colored mountains. From a distance, it looked more like a scenic tourist attraction than a hellscape that had claimed countless players' lives.
Taking a deep breath, Lillian pressed on. No teammates. Not even another player in sight. At this moment, he was completely alone in the area. If anything went wrong, there would be no one coming to help. He could only rely on himself.
As he entered the forest, perhaps because the labyrinth entrance lay within, there were no monsters outside at all. Lillian couldn't help thinking that Kayaba still had some conscience. If it were some other heartless developer, this would be exactly the sort of place where a few trash mobs would be planted just to screw players over—killing them right at the boss entrance and leaving them filled with resentment and hatred toward the game's creator.
"This should be it."
Deep in the forest, Lillian stopped before the massive, tightly sealed doors of the tower. Without hesitation, he placed his hands against them and pushed.
Humm—
A brilliant light bloomed across the surface of the doors. There was no need to exert any force—once the system detected a player's touch, the doors opened automatically.
As the doors parted to either side, a pitch-black depth lay beyond, so dark it felt as though it might pull him in if he stared too long.
Tightening his grip on the one-handed hammer, Lillian stepped forward and entered.
Thump, thump, thump!
The moment he crossed the threshold, the interior lit up. A pale blue glow filled the space, giving it a distinctly magical atmosphere.
Just as Argo's intel had said, three paths stretched out before him—one straight ahead, and two branching left and right. Without hesitation, Lillian chose the right-hand path. There was no reason for Argo to lie to him; she wouldn't scam someone over a mere thousand col.
Reaching out, a flash of light appeared, and a potion materialized in his hand.
He used it immediately, and a system prompt appeared.
[You have used Anti-Poison Potion · Low Grade. For 1 hour, you are immune to poison-type negative status effects of level 1.]
Seeing the green buff icon appear beside his HP bar, Lillian nodded slightly and stepped into the right-hand corridor, heading deeper inside. His footsteps echoed sharply through the empty space, amplified by the narrow passage. As he advanced, the corridor gradually tightened. After five minutes, it had narrowed to barely two people wide.
Looking ahead, he couldn't see the end of the passage at all. And just then, he spotted a pile of black metal protruding from the ground along the wall.
"Iron ore?"
Lillian's eyes lit up. He hurried over and placed his hand on it. A prompt instantly appeared.
[Iron Ore Material. Tool required for gathering.]
He immediately pulled out the iron pickaxe the blacksmith had given him. Just as he raised it to strike—
A sharp gust of wind suddenly surged from behind him!
Lillian reacted instantly, leaping to the side.
Clang!
A long blade slammed into the ground where he'd been standing moments earlier, the tip striking the stone with a crisp metallic sound. The one holding it was a beastman monster.
It was about the same height as Lillian, but far bulkier. Beneath its broad forehead were a pair of green eyes, its protruding jaw lined with sharp, exposed fangs that gave it a ferocious appearance.
"So it doesn't even make footsteps…"
Lillian stared at the beastman gripping its blade and glaring at him. Had it spawned behind him because he was about to mine the ore? That was a pretty nasty mechanic. A slower-reacting player would've been hit for sure.
"ROAR!!"
After missing its first strike, the beastman swung its blade again. In the cramped corridor, Lillian's speed advantage was limited, making agile movement difficult. But his strength was still there.
Timing the attack, he reached out just as the beastman closed in, grabbing its sword-wielding wrist. Twisting his body, he executed a clean over-the-shoulder throw, slamming the beastman's heavy frame into the ground!
If any other players had seen this, they'd be utterly shocked. Throwing a beastman like that was impossible even with the stats of a level 20 player. Yet for Lillian, it felt effortless.
Pinning the creature's arms under his feet, Lillian raised his one-handed hammer and smashed it down onto the beastman's head.
"ROAR! ROAR!!"
The monster struggled desperately, but Lillian pressed down like a mountain, leaving it completely unable to move. In the end, it could only die in utter humiliation under the relentless hammer blows.
As its body shattered into fragments, light erupted around Lillian.
[You have leveled up. Current Level: 7]
As expected of labyrinth monsters—the experience payout was generous.
Lillian put all his new stat points into Strength. He finally understood now. Even if his raw power didn't translate directly into damage, it was invaluable for restraining enemies. By limiting their movement, he could fight in an extremely safe manner. Even monsters several levels higher could be killed without taking damage, allowing him to gain massive experience efficiently.
With this approach, his leveling speed wouldn't be inferior to that of beta testers. In fact, he might even catch up to—and surpass—them in a short time.
After dealing with the monster, he resumed mining, this time keeping his back against the wall. That way, if another enemy spawned, he'd notice immediately.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The pickaxe struck the ore several times. After the system's judgment, a glow appeared.
[You have obtained: Iron Ore ×2]
The metal deposit vanished from the ground. The quest required twenty pieces. At this rate, he could probably finish mining everything in under half an hour—assuming nothing unexpected happened.
---
Half an hour later.
Lillian reached the end of the corridor. He now had twelve pieces of iron ore in his inventory, with eight more to go. At the passage's end, the path split again—one route to the left, one straight ahead, and a staircase on the right leading upward.
The first-floor labyrinth contained multiple "sub-levels," so staircases like this were common. After a brief moment of consideration, Lillian chose to head upstairs.
After climbing seven or eight steps, just as his head rose above the final step—
Two blades slashed down at him simultaneously!
Clack—!
Lillian raised his one-handed hammer to block, then leapt forward in one smooth motion. Landing on the upper level, he immediately spotted two beastmen standing on either side of the staircase—clearly lying in ambush for unsuspecting players.
It had to be said—this spot was positioned perfectly. When players climbed the stairs, it landed right in a blind spot in their field of vision. If someone wasn't careful or failed to react in time, they really could get slashed.
"Isn't this a bit too dirty?"
Lillian dashed forward in a burst, slipping behind the two beastmen. To avoid being attacked from both sides, he didn't hesitate for a second—he kicked the one on the left straight down the stairs, then swung his one-handed hammer at the one on the right.
Thud!
The beastman that had been kicked flew through the air and tumbled down seven or eight steps. Out of the corner of his eye, Lillian saw its HP bar instantly drop by a full third!
What the hell?!
His heart skipped a beat. Could it be… fall damage existed? If that was the case—
With that thought in mind, he seized another opening and kicked the second beastman down as well. This one crashed onto the ground, but its HP didn't drop at all.
"Huh?? Why… that rock?!"
Lillian suddenly noticed a sharp, jagged stone where the first beastman had gotten back up. It was obvious now—the creature had taken damage because it slammed into that rock. Which meant that under normal flat-ground conditions, there was no fall damage—but special terrain could cause it?
Realizing this, Lillian suppressed his excitement and patiently waited for the first beastman to climb back up. Just as it stepped onto the final stair, he kicked again, sending it flying—this time deliberately aiming for the sharp rock.
Thud!!
The beastman's body slammed into it. Watching another third of its HP vanish, Lillian sucked in a deep breath, his hands clenching tightly into fists.
It worked!
Without a doubt, if this mechanic truly existed, then his strength could be used to farm monsters—completely safely. No risk at all. True farming.
"If I lure more over, kick them down one by one and let them smash into the rock, I could probably hit level 9 in just one morning. And since no other players have entered the labyrinth yet, I don't need to worry about my special traits being exposed… Let's do it!"
This was a rare opportunity, and Lillian had to seize it. He had already decided to push the progress faster than usual, so blending in with the main groups was never an option. Faster leveling and better equipment were what he urgently needed, and discovering this terrain-based damage mechanic was exactly what could help him reach that goal.
To other players, this wouldn't count as a bug at all—but for Lillian, it was completely different. In fact, he'd already decided that once he reached higher floors, the first thing he'd do was find terrain that allowed environmental damage and farm monsters nonstop.
As he thought this, however, one person inevitably came to mind—Kayaba Akihiko.
SAO wasn't like the VRMMO novels where everything was managed by some fully autonomous super AI. In reality, Kayaba Akihiko could adjust things at any time. Other players merely had access to standard operation menus—but Kayaba's operation menu was basically a cheat-console simulator.
If Kayaba could not only modify players' stats and items but also monitor the entire system, then Lillian's abnormal rise might attract attention.
In the original storyline, even beta testers were only in their teens level-wise after a month. But if Lillian used terrain kills to farm monsters, he could easily reach double-digit levels in less than a week. Would that abnormal speed catch Kayaba's eye? And if so, would Kayaba start monitoring him in real time—perhaps even noticing that his actual strength and speed didn't match his attribute values at all?
Lillian didn't know.
After thinking it over carefully, he decided not to care. He would stick to his plan. If he held back just to match everyone else's pace, then everything would be meaningless. So if he got discovered, then so be it. He thought bitterly—if you've got the ability, Kayaba you old bastard, then go ahead and lock my level.