Chapter 637 (1/2)
Chapter 637
It’s now been about a year since someone cleared the 2nd floor of Aincrad .
A year is a duration that’s not short or too long . For the players inside SAO, however, they felt like the year lasted longer than a typical year in the real world .
A lot of things happened during the span of one year . In the real world, a lot of changes happened, these were unknown to the players because they were all still stuck in the game . Inside SAO, because it is a gaming world, information traveled very fast throughout the player base .
The most popular topic everyone followed is the clearing progress of the frontliners in Aincrad .
Things sped up after someone cleared the first floor . There hasn’t been a single case of being stuck on a floor for more than a month . The things the players saw when they were still living on the 1st and 2nd floor convinced them that it is entirely possible to beat this death game .
It really lifted their hopes when someone went and cleared the 2nd floor in one day . The other players picked up the slack and they threw themselves into a furor, training and beating monsters just to speed up the clearing speed if only a little . They didn’t wait around hoping for someone to beat it for them .
With so many players in hardcore mode, the clearing speed basically took off .
They used 1 month to clear the first floor . Someone then beat the 2nd floor in one day . In just a short year, the players are already on the 55th floor with the cooperation of all players and the sharing of information . The players are now more than halfway done with Aincrad .
The frontliners never stopped to pat themselves on the back . They continued working with each other, guilds, squads, individual players, they helped each other to reach this point with the top floor of Aincrad as their ultimate goal .
Frontliners are few in number, there are only about a hundred or so hardcore frontliners out of tens of thousands of players in SAO . They can be distinguished from average players by their abnormally high levels, and their advanced equipment . The frontliners did most of the floor conquest in Aincrad .
The frontliners can be generally divided into 5 factions .
Firstly, The Fuurinkazan, a clearing guild led by Klein . They are a relatively normal guild who didn’t use underhanded tactics like h.o.a.rding hunting grounds, they eschewed bullying average players, and other unsightly behavior . Hence, they are very well-respected among the general community . Even so, they still managed to market themselves as highly capable frontliners .
The second faction: those a.s.sociated with the Divine Dragons Alliance, these players are notorious for being willing to do anything to become the strongest guild . They are not below harming a player (not to the extent of death), turning themselves into orange status (potentially harmful player) if they can get their hands on rare items or mobs . They are very secretive although it is known that the leaders.h.i.+p changes frequently, probably because its members would do anything for more power .
The third faction: the Knights of Blood Oath, arguably the strongest guild in all of SAO, led by Heathcliff, they are publicly known as the strongest clearing guild . They are not as numerous as other large guilds but all their members are talented elites . Asuna is the vice-leader, by the way . With two very capable players, including Heathcliff, KoB is evidently very strong compared to other guilds .
The fourth faction is one no one expected, this guild was originally an ill-fated guild that is third-rated at best in the original work . Unlike the original work, Moonlit Black Cats appeared among the top-ranking guilds in SAO .
Moonlit Black Cats are led by Souta .
In one year’s time, a certain benefactor indirectly motivated them to try harder at training and farming resources . They started as a small guild of 6 members, they let capable players join and now they are among the top 5 guilds in SAO .
The Black Cats are also very salient for being the only players in a raid group to completely outcla.s.s other players in equipment and gears . They are easily the guild with the least members in the top 5 guilds but they are people who can fight on par with Divine Dragons Alliance and Fuurinkazan just by relying on their superior gears .
The main reason why the Black Cats are always the biggest whales with the best equipment in the raid group could be attributed to a certain bug-like player who defied common gaming logic for breakfast .