Through the teleportation gate, they arrived at the town on the second floor.
Upon landing, Haruto stretched lazily.
Meanwhile, Asuna and Argo both clearly let out sighs of relief.
It was obvious that the confrontation earlier was still a bit too intense for the two girls to handle.
After all, direct conflict with others wasn't something they were used to.
"By the way, starting from the second floor, we can learn some sub-professions, right?"
Haruto deliberately brought up a topic to shift their focus.
Argo immediately nodded in response.
"Yep, starting from the second floor, we can learn sub-professions from NPCs and use them. Some high-level combat-related ones aren't available yet, but life-related ones are all open. Like alchemy and forging, those are super helpful in future floor clears."
Haruto smiled.
"The cooking profession should be available too, right?"
Asuna's eyes lit up slightly at that.
Argo also nodded.
"Yeah! We can now learn cooking skills from NPCs! Ahh, finally we can escape the fate of chewing on hard bread!"
As she spoke, Argo even raised her hand in cheer.
In the first-floor starting town, the only food option available to players was dry bread.
It restored stamina, but going without proper meals for long periods would reduce max stamina, affecting basic player functions.
This mechanic wasn't new.
But in a full-dive game, taste was fully simulated.
Food was no longer just an item—it was real.
While one could survive on just dry bread, any normal person would find it unbearable.
"Anyway, let's go get something to eat and talk while we eat."
Haruto pointed to a restaurant in town.
Asuna and Argo both nodded eagerly.
The three entered the town's restaurant and ordered what they wanted.
Argo even rubbed her hands together in excitement.
During the beta, she didn't have spare money to splurge in places like this. Back then, every coin had to go toward climbing the floors quickly to gather intel.
But things were different now.
With no way to log out, this game world was effectively the real world for most people.
The dishes arrived.
Asuna couldn't wait and took a small bite.
It was obvious that the once gloomy Asuna had brightened up again.
She even started eating more heartily, throwing away her ladylike image.
As for Argo—
Her eating habits were even more uncouth.
Haruto simply smiled and watched the two.
After a brief bout of gluttony, both girls noticed Haruto's gaze and felt a little embarrassed.
"By the way, I never knew you were in SAO too, Haruto-senpai," Asuna commented.
"I thought someone as amazing as you would be too busy to play games."
Argo perked up her ears.
In-game, prying into someone's real-life info was considered taboo.
But Haruto was just too mysterious.
Especially for Argo, a curious information broker.
Haruto simply poked Asuna's cheek.
"I visited SAO for a tour and received a public beta slot. But you—didn't you get in without a slot?"
Asuna gave an awkward smile.
She had secretly used her brother's NerveGear to log in… and ended up trapped. It was a pretty embarrassing story.
Argo widened her eyes as she listened.
"You guys… actually visited the game company?"
Haruto and Asuna both nodded.
Though spreading that info could cause trouble—
People might see them as being connected to Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of this mess. But Haruto trusted that Argo wouldn't leak it. They chatted for a while longer, getting to know each other better.
Eventually, Argo couldn't hold back and voiced her concern.
"Haruto, what you said in the boss room is definitely going to cause huge problems. From now on, whether it's guilds or gathering materials and equipment among players, it'll be tough."
Haruto had basically drawn a clear line between himself and the other players.
And outliers like him are rarely accepted.
But for Haruto, this wasn't really a problem.
Sheep move in flocks, but beasts walk alone.
Haruto didn't respond to her worry, and instead lowered his voice and said,
"Speaking of players, let me share a piece of classified intel with you."
His words and demeanor immediately piqued the girls' curiosity.
"Kayaba Akihiko said this was a death game, and that if your HP hits zero, you'll really die."
Argo and Asuna both nodded, their expressions turning solemn. Though they had overcome their fear and learned to fight—
This topic still weighed heavy on them.
It was about human life, after all.
Haruto didn't beat around the bush.
"What I'm saying is, this so-called 'death game'—isn't real."
The two girls widened their eyes in shock.
"How could that be? But those players who died..."
Argo immediately retorted.
Kayaba had shown real-life news of the casualties in the Town of Beginnings. Otherwise, no one would've believed in the death game so absolutely.
But Haruto shook his head.
"Originally, yes, Kayaba did design SAO to be a death game. But when I toured the SAO root server, I spotted flaws in the game's foundational system."
"So I secretly installed a failsafe—preventing the NerveGear from destroying the brain."
"Every player who's 'died' in the game is actually just in a deep sleep in the real world. They won't wake up until the game ends."
"As for those news reports Kayaba showed—they were fake. Inserted by the Response Department."
"With 10,000 players trapped, there's no way Japan wouldn't have formed a response team. They likely severed SAO's open internet access long ago."
There was both truth and deception in what he said.
Those news reports shown by Kayaba were all fake data inserted into SAO by the Foundation.
SAO still appears connected to the internet—
But in reality, it's already linked to the Foundation's internal network.
All the information is what they want Kayaba to see. Asuna and Argo were left in utter shock after hearing this. The impact of this revelation was just as massive as when Kayaba first announced the death game.
"So… no one actually died? Even if someone dies in-game, they won't die in real life?!"
Argo was moved to tears.
Asuna too, looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"If we make this news public, then—"
Argo began, but Haruto shook his head.
"This news must never be revealed. Otherwise, the entire game might collapse."
The two girls were stunned.
But after thinking for a moment, they understood.
Right now, players behaved because of the fear of death.
If that fear disappeared—
The players would become literal walking disasters. With no consequences, they'd do whatever they wanted. It would also kill motivation for clearing the game.
Then, freeing SAO would become near impossible.
"No matter what, you're incredible, Haruto-senpai! You saved so many people!"
Asuna's eyes sparkled with admiration.
Haruto simply smiled and said nothing.
Telling Asuna and Argo the truth wasn't dangerous.
The ability to fight wasn't something that needed continuous forging.
It was more like a barrier.
Once you crossed it, your mindset changed for good—you'd never again fear fighting because of death.
Asuna and Argo had already crossed that line.
"But… Haruto, who are you really…"
Argo muttered halfway through, then quickly stopped herself.
Haruto didn't mind—he just ruffled her hair.
"It's not that big a deal. I'm a decision-maker of the Momobami Clan. That's how I got access to the game company and was able to modify the root server. Though it's not that grand of a title, I'm glad I could help."
After hearing that—
Argo was completely stunned.
A decision-maker of the Momobami Clan?!
That title alone sounded like something worlds apart from her.
Yet here he was, so close, gently patting her head.
Argo felt completely dazed.