Chapter 35

Roya paid no attention to the juice splashing onto him, thrusting his sword downward with precision.

A cold gleam flashed as the blade pierced straight through his opponent.

Even so, the creature continued to struggle. The man-eating flower's HP was, after all, quite substantial. Roya exerted slight pressure with his foot, and its thrashing lessened.

With an expressionless face, he stabbed three more times, finally finishing it off.

At that moment, a powerful wave of dizziness struck him.

Roya frowned, rubbing his throbbing temples. As someone with exceptional mental strength, he wasn't about to faint outright.

He glanced at his mana bar—it was completely drained, and the wild surge of power ebbed away like a receding tide.

[Your level has increased to 7.]

[System Notification: You have comprehended ???]

[???]

[Active Skill: Boosts all personal attributes based on the amount of mana infused. The degree of enhancement depends on the total mana used.]

Roya thought for a moment and named the skill "Berserk."

After resting in place for five minutes, a blue light suddenly enveloped him.

Forced teleportation.

A faint smile crept onto Roya's lips as he murmured, "Is it finally starting?"

He found himself in the familiar plaza once more, where players began appearing across the vast square.

This was the Town of Beginnings.

Before the crowd grew too dense, Roya quickly scanned the area for Asuna and Kirito.

As more blue lights flashed, a flood of players materialized in the plaza.

The game's cheerful background music drifted through the air, carried by a gentle breeze to the players' ears.

It was clear that if real life had background music, people's moods would improve significantly.

Roya searched around and finally spotted a dark-haired man in a tucked-away corner.

He strode over, grabbed the man's arm, and glanced at his ID. Roya chuckled, "You haven't changed a bit—still using that name."

Kirito, confused about who had grabbed him, turned and saw his older brother.

Ignoring the teasing tone, he cut straight to the point: "Big brother, haven't you noticed something strange?"

Roya's smile faded as he thought to himself, I've already gone from being a pile of data to flesh and blood.

Seeing Roya's expression, Kirito continued, "You must've noticed it too—the logout button's gone."

Roya offered reassurance: "It's probably just a bug."

Kirito sighed, "If it's a bug, this game's going to get some bad rep. I had such high hopes for it."

Roya looked at the younger boy. Kirito clearly hadn't grasped the gravity of the situation yet.

After chatting idly with him for a bit, Roya's gaze flicked to Klein—a hulking figure with a scythe—standing silently nearby. Roya gave Kirito a meaningful smile, patted his shoulder, and said, "I'm off to find Asuna. You guys talk."

As the plaza grew more crowded, finding someone became increasingly difficult.

Yet wherever Roya passed, players' eyes followed him.

With a strikingly handsome face, near-perfect features, a sharp nose, and bold sword-like eyebrows, the boy exuded an air of valor. His crimson-gold eyes shone with clarity and spirit. Years of sword training had imbued Roya with a sharp, commanding presence.

He wore the basic linen clothes given to newbies, yet on him, they looked anything but ordinary. His dazzling short hair parted in the middle, framing his forehead and highlighting his stunning looks—a truly captivating young man.

In a society like Japan's, where appearances often shaped perceptions, Roya's presence stirred the hearts of players. Even in a game, girls found themselves smitten, while his aura held an almost lethal allure for those less worldly.

Some male players approached, asking Roya to share his character creation secrets.

Roya's expression remained cold as he scanned the crowd and said flatly, "I'm looking for someone. Please step aside."

The girls blushed at his aloof demeanor, while the guys muttered among themselves. Roya's sharp hearing caught snippets of their conversation.

"What's the point of looking good in a game? He's probably some overweight slob in real life."

"Yeah, exactly."

Roya shook his head, ignoring the sour remarks, and finally spotted a bewildered Asuna in a corner.

She stood there, dazed.

The moment she saw Roya, it was as if she'd found a lifeline. She grabbed his arm.

With a serious look, Asuna said, "Naoki, I noticed something—the logout button's gone."

Roya nodded.

Seeing how calm he was, Asuna grew anxious. She whispered, "It's almost seven. If my mom's back, she's going to yell at me."

Roya shook his head, amused that even as an adult, Asuna still feared her mother.

Though she hadn't realized the situation's true weight, Roya didn't want to alarm her. "It's fine," he said. "Probably just a bug."

But Asuna's small face remained scrunched with worry.

He led her to Kirito. As more players filled the plaza, it grew noisier.

After all, plenty of people had noticed the anomaly—many had discovered the missing logout button.

Voices rose in scattered pockets, growing louder by the minute. Roya's ears picked up shouts like, "What's going on?" "Is this how we log out?" and "Let me out already!"

Soon, the clamor took on a frantic edge. Angry yells of "This isn't funny!" and "GM, show yourself!" began to surface.

Then, a single voice cut through the chaos.

"Hey… look up there!"

Roya instinctively glanced upward and saw an extraordinary sight.

A hundred meters above, at the base of the second floor, the sky was stained with a vivid red checkerboard pattern.

Upon closer inspection, the pattern was made of two alternating English words in bold red letters: [WARNING] and [SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT].

Is this the GM? Roya mused, sinking into thought. It was his first time encountering a GM in what now felt like reality.

The red pattern covering the sky thickened at its center, resembling a massive, viscous drop of blood slowly descending. But instead of falling to the ground, it morphed midair.

What appeared was a towering figure, nearly twenty meters tall, cloaked in deep red.

Its face, hidden beneath a low-hanging hood, was an empty void—no features, just a hollow space where the inner lining and stitching of the hood were faintly visible. The long, drooping hem of the cloak revealed nothing but a subtle darkness beneath.