No sooner had Argo left then I ran straight to the shops in search of her books. Argo had definitely been one busy informant as the shop was full of hundreds of volumes describing everything from the floors and game mechanics that had been discovered as well as shorter volumes with corrections and additional information. Most of the volumes were free claiming to be a ‘second print’. The information seemed reliable, and free had always been my favourite price point, so I grabbed a copy of each issue before buying some food and heading to the local inn for the night.

It was about 50 Col for a tiny, cramped, one bed room apartment and 1 Col for the dry piece of black bread I was attempting to chew through. This put my starting funds down to 49 Col in total. Argo was right. If I was going to survive in this world long enough to find Miku, I’d need to start earning Col fast.

I spent all night and most of the next morning attempting to read through the backlog of reports from Argo. Most of the reports were fairly short and to the point, though all the information provided was pertinent. Argo had a very reliable ‘just the facts’ attitude in her writing, but with an entire year’s worth of backlog, it was going to take me quite some time to get through them all. The books gave me an indispensable head start, as well as left me feeling as if I had experienced that first year in Aincrad with everyone else. Unfortunately I wouldn’t be gaining any levels from reading.

“I guess I can’t put it off any longer.” I thought to myself looking at how much time was left on my inn room rental. With 49 Col to my name I could buy some more bread to keep going, but there was no way I would be able to afford a room to sleep in. Given that I hadn’t seen anyone sleeping on the streets the day before, I felt that somehow it would be unwise to take up that habit. There was no other option available to me. I had to start grinding.

According to Argo’s manual, daggers had a set of skills that were meant for support or stealth. The system Argo had suggested was fairly simple. Build up your hiding and stealth skills so that you can sneak up behind enemies and then take them out in one hit from your stealth attack bonus. If you couldn’t take them out in one hit, it was safest to run away allowing your fellow party members to take charge until you could raise your hidden level enough to take another shot.

This was the advice written in Argo’s guide for beginner players using daggers as it provided the least risk while still giving players a chance to get a feel for the weapon. I still wasn’t entirely sold on the effectiveness of the dinky dagger, but I couldn’t afford a new weapon currently no matter how badly I wanted one. With a heavy sigh I figured I might as well give it a go.

My first target would be a Frenzy Boar. Ultimately the weakest creature in the game. Thankfully the creature was programmed as passive so it wouldn’t attack me unless I attacked it first. Unfortunately, this also meant that I would have little indication of if my stealth was working on it or not save for the little number display in the corner of my peripheral vision.

As I crouched down and approached the boar from behind the small display appeared showing I was 45% hidden. I felt my chest tighten. It wasn’t my first time attacking an enemy in an VRMMORPG. In Alfheim Online I had attacked far larger and scarier creatures than this. I had died more than a few times too… but somehow, behind this weak mob, I was reminded that if I died in game I’d die in real life.

My hidden level lowered slightly as the grip on my knife weakened and my hands began to shake. I was still level 1. This was my first enemy I ever encountered in this game. This was the most vulnerable I would ever be in the game. What if I messed up? What if I died?

The boar’s head perked up. I was afraid my stealth check had failed completely when my fears were pushed aside by the sound of voices approaching. I had left early in the morning, but the Town of Beginnings was overpopulated. It wouldn’t be long before these fields were filled with players trying to earn enough money to survive another day. If I wanted to level up, I had no more time to hesitate.

Gripping my dagger tighter I reanalyzed my opponent. I wasn’t sure if my low hiding level would be enough to get the stealth attack bonus, but daggers also gave an extra bonus to critical strikes. The weak spot on a Frenzy Boar, according to Argo’s guide, was the back of its head. It only took one strike against the back of the head with a normal sword to kill it, but that would mean using an attack that allowed me to reach it.

Jab was the only skill available to a level one dagger wielder. It essentially shot your body straight forward to stab whatever was directly in front of it similar to the rapier skill Linear. At my current position; crouched down in stealth, it would be impossible for me to reach the back of the boar’s head in one hit. But there was another option that might work.

Unlike Sword Art Online, ALfheim Online had been a game where you constantly had to be moving to survive. Boasting a one of a kind flight engine that allowed players to stay airborne for short periods of time, most battles turned into a game of ‘whoever can stay in the air the longest wins’. I had experimented with numerous strategies to squeeze any additional seconds of air time out of my avatar. While this current avatar lacked wings or even an open skill slot to equip acrobatics, it was possible that my one trick could still work.

“Nothing for it but to try…” I mumbled to myself under my breath. Even if I messed up, as long as I could get one good hit in I would be fine.

With all of my strength I leaped straight up in the air. The Frenzy Boar’s ears raised up as my hiding level plummeted to 35% but it was too late for it to react.

As soon as I had a direct path, I activated the sword skill Jab. The forward momentum created by the sword skill was enough to drive my body straight into the back of the boar’s head like a meteor.

The boar let out a frustrated cry before its entire body exploded into a series of graphical fractured pieces. A small white screen popped up to tell me I had been awarded twenty four experience points and 30 Col. More importantly, I had gained the assurance that it wasn’t impossible for me to survive this game.

With a new found confidence, I reactivated my hiding skill to take out as many boars as I could before the the fields were flooded with players.

For the next two months I devoted every second to leveling up. I would head out of the Town of Beginnings with a collection of Iron Daggers, and wouldn’t return until they had all broken, or I was too exhausted or hungry to continue. Then I would return to town to restock on the cheapest items I could buy and head out again. When I wasn’t fighting, I would read and re-read through the guides Argo had created.

Thanks to her guides, I quickly rose in levels by grinding the most efficient quests. Most of the players who remained in the Town of Beginnings only took on battles that would get them Col for the least risk, and most the players who wanted to level up were already of too high a level to benefit from any quests on the first floor. This meant, I had free reign to run through any quests as many times as I wanted.

Occasionally the Army sent members out to harvest materials or on training missions, but I had gotten into the habit of activating my hiding skill whenever I entered town or heard other players approaching. As I was constantly hiding from players with far higher levels than me, my hiding level had shot up surprisingly quickly. I had even caught wind of a rumor among the Army’s members of a ghost player who had been wiping out hunting grounds before anyone else could arrive but who no one had ever seen.

I never did switch from the dagger skill tree. The more I came to rely on the hiding skill, the more I came to appreciate the flexibility and stealth bonus daggers provided. It kept me competitive in spite of my lack of levels, and even let me take on some enemies several levels above me which allowed me to gain significant experience.

I added the acrobatic skill when I hit level six. This hadn’t been in Argo’s guides, but thanks to my experience in ALfheim Online, I found it effective for helping me reach the weak points of enemies quickly. When I finally hit level twelve, I added the sneaking skill which cemented my role as an acrobatic ghost.

I hadn’t seen Argo since the day I arrived at Aincrad. I messaged her once asking when she would be coming back to the first floor. Her reply came in soon after in traditional Argo manner.

“Nee-hee, missing me already Ma-bou? Haven’t found anything yet. I’ll contact ya when I’ve got a lead. Make sure ya don’t get too lonely without me. And get plenty of Col ready for my return!”

That had been my only social interaction I had experienced in months. The players in the Town of Beginnings never seemed much for small talk. Even if they had been, my focus was on leveling up and finding Miku. Not to make friends! The only times I deactivated my hiding skill was when I interacted with NPCs or the rare times I slept in a hotel room. No one ever noticed me. If they did I doubt they would care. It was because of this that I was taken aback when a pair of players approached me one evening as I was purchasing a room for the night in the inn.

The duo consisted of a man and a woman. It was hard to guess ages in this digital world, but they couldn’t have been much older than Miku. The man was a sword and shield user. His heavy armor felt ill fitted given his slender build. His short black hair poked out from under his helmet adding to his amateurish appearance. The woman was a spear user fitted out in medium leather armor. Her straight black hair reached her shoulders and she had a single braid hanging down the front of her face.