Time travel at the same time: Is the golden finger actually me?

Roque slowly opened his eyes, and the first things he noticed were those he was already familiar with.

Along with him, the trio of Deadfire Sea, beast-type Pokémon and Digimon. Hogwarts also has wage thieves.

And behind them was Rock, who had not yet woken up.

"Wait, don't wake him up yet, let him rest." The salary thief Rock suggested.

Being able to fall asleep in the gray fog space without waking up means that the opponent's world may be very stressful to survive.

There is no need to be too harsh on Roark.

Just quietly let the other person rest for a while.

Several Rocks glanced at each other, then ran to the side and formed a circle, chatting about each other's recent experiences. Although they can know what the other person did after exchanging memories, several Rocks can also share their memories with each other first. Let’s talk for a while and have a heart-to-heart talk. After all, opportunities like this are rare.

"Are you already a second year at Hogwarts?"

"My progress in constructing a digital body using my Digicore is still very slow..."

"I just recently became Hokage, so I feel like there will be a lot of trouble."

"I'm still stealing my paycheck."

When several people chatted, they almost didn't follow each other's sentences, but they could all understand what the other party meant.

"You..." Newcomer Rock slept for a while, finally woke up and looked at everyone.

He felt that the group of people in front of him gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity. It was the throbbing from his soul, the feeling of wanting to become one with these people.

"Rock, everyone is Rock." Bulbasaur Rock wrapped his hand with vines.

For a moment, the Rocks had a heart-to-heart.

We all also know what kind of world the newcomers come from.

——

With the major breakthrough in human neural connection technology.

The helmet-type virtual device called "NERvGear" is also popular on the market.

Rock, who was reincarnated in this world, has lived here for twenty years. He was admitted to the University of Tokyo and lived a new life leading an enviable life.

Everything went so smoothly until Rock came into contact with a complete stealth game - a black technology that he had never been exposed to in his previous life, which allows people to completely immerse themselves in the virtual world and take risks.

And this also successfully reminded him of an anime he watched a long time ago, Sword Art Online.

There are many works of this type, but when it comes to the "NERvGear" helmet-type virtual device, Rock can only think of Sword Art Online.

He vaguely remembered that the plot was that after the game was launched, players could not log out or resurrect, and had to clear the game before returning to the real world.

Countless players are trapped in the game for real-life adventures.

‘It’s better to avoid the death game called SAO. ’

Rock thinks this way, in this era it is impossible not to touch virtual reality devices at all, just like modern life refuses to use mobile phones.

Even his future working environment will inevitably be forced to move closer to virtual devices, otherwise he will always be eliminated by the world.

But what is puzzling is that he has indeed never heard of any game called "Sword Art Online" on the market, only full stealth versions of some popular stand-alone games in previous generations.

This allowed Rock to have a great time playing games in his free time. The only thing that dissatisfied him was that his gaming talent seemed to be average.

To be honest, before traveling to this world, Rock felt that he was not that good at playing games, but rather that he was relatively good at it.

It was only after traveling to this world that such a situation occurred. However, considering that it was a complete stealth game after all, Rock had never been exposed to it in his previous life, so he was quickly relieved.

Until 2022, the year when "SAO" was in public beta in the original Sword Art Online, Rock had not seen any news about "SAO"'s internal beta, and he had never heard of the genius Kayaba Akihiko.

On the contrary, the news that Miyazaki Hidetaka once again fell to the altar has been heard from time to time.

An annual game that he is familiar with, "Elden's Ring", recently ended its short internal beta and started an open beta.

Rock naturally also wants to try the gold content of the full stealth version of the previous game of the year.

So I decided to enter this game.

Then.

Unable to log out.

…

People are trapped in this game and it's already the sixth day.

When I first came here, the bright light of the golden tree shone on the earth. The slanting light dyed the vast grassland with a layer of gold. Even the sky in the distance reflected the glory of the law. Under the blue sky were golden auspicious clouds. , as if everything is so beautiful, and the junction area feels prosperous.

However, when people were really trapped here, they realized that under the bright gold was the decay that was difficult to conceal, the vast land was bleak, and even the sky was cloudy and overcast, even in Airei. The church could not withstand the cold wind blowing from Storm Hill.

The Islay Church where the player is now is an ancient building with a long history. It has fine stone carvings, semicircular arches, a towering bell tower, and the fourth blessing point that the player urgently needs, which should be in other games. It's like a doomsday safe house.

However, in today's death game, Airlay Church has long been in dilapidated condition.

Its walls, which were once full of vitality and sacredness, are now covered with black mold spots and traces of weathering. The beautiful arches and cornice structures have long since collapsed, and the remaining bell tower is also crumbling in the wind and rain, leaving only dilapidated remains. , desolate and deserted, and the wind that keeps coming in is still howling.

The cold wind seeping in through the broken wall continues to deprive people of their sense of security, making it difficult for players to fall asleep after dark.

Rock, who had just closed his eyes but had actually been resting in the gray fog space for a while, opened his eyes again.

Such a slight movement was keenly noticed by another player beside him.

"Are you awake? Can't you sleep?"

"Hmm...can't sleep."

After hearing what Rock said, the other party nodded. It was really not easy to fall asleep in this environment, because this game was really scary.

Aincrad in Sword Art Online still has a huge town for players to rest, and Elden's Ring, even the designated blessing point, is not really safe now.

Rock turned his head and looked at the huge golden knight outside the ruined Airey Church - the big tree guard.

The other party is standing outside the door of Airey Church, watching the players here.

The huge body and pupils with murderous intent made the player unconsciously press their back against the ruined wall.

The numerical values ​​​​in the game are a bit weird. It is not the electronic cricket fight of the previous life, where you can beat the gods with twenty knights. Instead, it is closer to a fantasy-like reality. It is almost useless to pile up the numbers.

And this is the information that was tested with life - there is already a lot of blood at the feet of the big tree guard.

These dead players will not respawn like faded players, but will actually die.

Because this is a soul-based game that must be completed in one life.

——

On a quiet night, it is not the chirping of cicadas that accompanies people to sleep.

It was the screams and wails of the hanging dead.

They were hung on the mast like sails, adding another touch to the already weird night in Nimgofu.

"It's normal to not be able to sleep." The other party seemed to start chatting, "After all, the gap between this game and the closed beta is really big..."

"The gap is too big? What was it like during the internal test?" Rock was a little confused.

"Eh? Aren't you a beta player?"

The other party was a little shocked. Most of the current players were still at the blessing point at the beginning of the guidance. Those who could muster up the courage to step out of their comfort zone and reach Airey Church were basically first-line players.

They are either closed beta players or people with extremely high natural qualities.

Because Ningmu Gefu is vaster than imagined, and it is completely different from the ideal situation where it can be reached within a short walk. From the beginning of the guide to Airey Church, the frontline players did not arrive here until the sixth day.

He observed Rock's behavior on the road and felt that Rock should be quite familiar with the magic ring.

I thought he was a closed beta player like me...

‘Is it because the game feels intuitive? ’

It's like if you play the game too much, you will have this feeling. You think there is a treasure chest over there, but after you go there, you will find that there is actually a treasure chest.

This is intuitive, a collision between game design and player experience.

The other party did not continue to dwell on this point, but directly gave Rock a demonstration - he reached into Rock's backpack and generously took out the Roja Fruit from it.

Rock looked at the [Roa Fruit] that the other party took out - this is a material that can be easily obtained everywhere in the border area. It is not very precious. He picked it on the way.

"Look, the "stealing" is completed." He put the Roja fruit back into Rock's backpack with a solemn expression.

"It's your turn, come and try to lift my clothes."

Because Rock chose the useless person to start, he did not have initial equipment.

The one he chose was a swordsman, and he still had the initial equipment, so he could only demonstrate it.

Rock looked at the other person, hesitated for a moment, not knowing where to start, and finally took off the cloth strip on the other person's face, because the swordsman's equipment could be covered by lifting it up, and Rock kept I don’t know what the other person looks like.

After unwrapping the cloth, a handsome-looking boy appeared to be young.

A bit familiar, Rock looked at it carefully for a while.

Seems to be……

"My ID is roke, Roke." Roke stretched out his hand, wanting to know the other person's ID.

"Oh...my ID is Kirito, Kirito." It is the abbreviation of the Roman phonetic Kirigaya Kazuto, which is Kirigaya Kazuto.

As a social fear, Kirito subconsciously reported his ID, but then he hurriedly covered his face with his clothes.

"You see, just like in reality, the clothes in other games are just templates, but here, the same clothes can even be worn in different ways." He said in a low voice.

"What's even scarier is that others are allowed to take off their clothes."

There is absolutely no protection system in this regard...

The little boy was currently in the church, his eyes alert, as if he was wary of the presence of a priest around him.

"This doesn't just mean stealing equipment or simply robbing other people's belongings, but it also goes deeper..." He hinted that Rock should be careful.

In the first few days of the game, players still have some humanity to speak of, but later on, in this declining and terrifying world, under huge pressure, no matter what people do, it is possible.

"And this is a degree of freedom that is not available during the closed beta. The plot of the closed beta seems to have completely disappeared." He quietly lowered his voice: "During the closed beta, players will meet a witch named Melina, who will give the player the Holy Grail. bottle."

The Holy Grail bottle is the so-called red and blue medicine, which can replenish the blood volume and blue volume.

And they don't have the Holy Grail bottle now, maybe they need to get it themselves later.

"In the blessing land on the front line of the next level, Melina will also give players a spiritual horse named Toret." He hesitated when he said this.

To be honest, he wanted to be the first to reach the front of the level to see if the first player would have the reward.

But after thinking about it, the game intuitively told him that it wouldn't happen.

This is not this type of game.

During the closed beta period, each player was independent and played in their own world. However, in the current life and death game, players are concentrated on one map. Both the degree of freedom and resources are very different from the closed beta.

Even upgrading, which should have been a task undertaken by Melina, was now done by the players themselves.

It completely makes the player independent, without any guidance, it is just like throwing the person directly into a real world!

Even Kirito, who was used to being a lone wolf, felt a little uneasy when faced with the difference in intelligence.

After hearing what Kirito said, if it was Rock before, he might feel a little uncomfortable, because this is more like a real world, and it is difficult to guarantee that he can turn over with only intelligence.

But now, Rock, who has returned from the gray fog space, feels a little more at ease.

Not only because his gaming talent has improved at this moment, but also because among all the Rocks in the gray fog space, there is a Digimon.

Because the rules of his world are very special, walking between reality and data.

This resulted in Rock's improvement in other worlds not being obvious. Only combat experience, skills, and talent actually helped him.

But he is different in the Digimon world, and the help he gives is exaggerated.

Rock exhaled his panel.

"The Useless Man: Rock"

Grade 1

Vitality: 10

Concentration: 10

…

Rock's eight statistics, vitality, concentration, endurance, strength, dexterity, intelligence, faith, and induction, are all standard 10 points.

But that's not the point...

Rock called out the panel again, and the useless man's data panel suddenly reversed.

A strange talent meter is revealed behind the data pad.

"Pray to the God of Death": "Send a prayer to another world, and the only one who can answer it is yourself."

[Effect: Greatly increase the power of full prayer. 】

"The Birth of the Dark Lord": "Blessed by the ancient magicians of Hogwarts, there are no taboos in magic."

[Effect: Greatly increase the power of all magic. 】

"The Exaggerated Navy": "When I started doing abstraction, my vitality was comparable to that of cat and mouse."

[Effect: Greatly improve vitality, strength, and endurance. 】

"Detective? Police? Paycheck thief!": "Go fish, because the job is pointless."

[Effect: Significantly improves sensitivity, intelligence, and dexterity. 】

"The Rhetoric of a Vegetative Person": "Learn to inflict injuries from now on."

[Effect: Can greatly increase the attack power of combat skills. 】

…

After sharing it with Digimon Rock, as they are both data entities, the mutual improvement between him and the Digimon is almost maximized.

In a sense, he may be the only humanoid Digimon in the game world. Although he cannot modify the data in the game world, he can condense the data that belongs to him as a Digimon.

Although the Digicore of Digimon Rock cannot be perfectly reproduced, Rock can transform each Digicore into his own talent under the rules of the world.

The talent bonus is actually based on the talisman system in the game.

There are currently only five talents that Rock can convert, and the other two beast-type data - Pokémon and Digimon's own Digicore, are somewhat difficult to convert.