"Hand over your Col and your equipment."
Lillian glanced at the blade in the man's hand. The others had also drawn their weapons—without exception, all beginner gear. Above their heads, their cursors glowed green.
In SAO, players could not see each other's names or levels—only HP bars. Even when in a party, this rule still applied. The purpose was to prevent bullying in the wild, where high-level players could freely prey on weaker ones. As a result, the only way to judge another player's strength was by their equipment.
As for cursor colors, they represented a player's "hostility status."
There were only two colors. Green indicated a normal, law-abiding player. Orange meant the player had committed crimes such as theft, robbery, or even murder. There was no such thing as a true "red name." Players later labeled "red-name players" earned that nickname simply because they attacked others indiscriminately, behaving like hostile monsters.
Since all of them were green, it meant they hadn't committed any crimes yet—but judging by how practiced they looked, this clearly wasn't their first time doing this.
'So you scare solo players with numbers, force them into a trade, and take their Col and gear that way?' Lillian thought.
If the items were transferred through the trade system, the system wouldn't classify it as robbery. That way, these players could keep their green status instead of turning orange. After all, orange-name players would be attacked by city guards, and even other players might hunt them down out of disgust.
Lillian calmly sized them up. "You look pretty experienced. This isn't your first time, is it?"
"Huh?" The blond leader raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. Everyone who comes through this area pays us!"
"Yeah, yeah," another chimed in. "You'd better just hand it over. If the boss gets angry—don't forget what Kayaba Akihiko said. You don't respawn in this game!"
"Exactly! Why lose your life over a little Col?" another added eagerly. "Relax, we're reasonable. We only rob you once. If we see you again, we won't do it again!"
"Wow," Lillian said, mildly impressed. "Even thieves have principles."
"Damn right!"
"Alright then." Lillian crossed his arms. "Since you haven't crossed the line into outright murder and you're still green-name players, I won't take your lives. Just leave your Col and equipment behind."
The moment the words left his mouth, everyone froze.
They stared at each other, wondering if they had misheard.
"You bastard!" the blond leader shouted, raising his curved blade. "You're the one giving us your stuff, not the other way around!"
"Stop wasting time," Lillian said, clenching his fists. "I've got leveling to do. Come on—are you going to fight, or do you only know how to talk?"
"YOU SON OF A—!"
A man wielding a one-handed sword snapped and charged forward, but the blond leader yanked him back at the last second.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the leader hissed. "We can't kill him—we'll turn orange!"
"But boss—"
"You think we can't deal with him just because we don't want to go orange?" The leader sneered at Lillian. "You're underestimating us."
"Oh?" Lillian raised an eyebrow. "You've got a way to rob someone without turning orange?"
"Not rob—make you hand it over willingly." The leader gestured to two of his men. "Go pull some mobs!"
"Got it!"
The two immediately ran off. The remaining three tightened their circle around Lillian, blocking his escape. Lillian instantly understood their plan.
"Heh, still time to change your mind," the blond leader said with a nasty grin, rubbing his hands together. "Once my guys bring the monsters over and dump all the aggro on you… if the mobs kill you, we don't go orange. So? Scared yet?"
"…"
Lillian thought to himself: This is a full-dive era, and they're still using MMO tricks from centuries ago.
"Boss! We got them!"
The two players sprinted back, five or six wolves chasing close behind. When Lillian saw them, his eyes lit up instead.
The blond leader was overjoyed. "Scared now? Hahaha! If you beg right now, we'll—"
"Thanks," Lillian interrupted sincerely. "I actually have a wolf-hunting quest. You really saved me some trouble."
The blond leader stared blankly at him. "You… snapped, didn't you?"
"AAAH!"
One of the players who had pulled the wolves was bitten, screaming in pain. These wolves were level 5 monsters—dangerous enough that an average player of the same level could only handle one or two at a time. Any more than that, and they'd be overwhelmed.
Those two players didn't even look level 5. Lillian glanced at the bitten one—his HP dropped by a full third in a single hit.
"Boss, help me!"
"You useless piece of crap!" the leader roared, furious. He charged forward with his curved blade. "Forget that guy! Kill the wolves first and save him!"
"Got it!!"
The group immediately broke their encirclement and rushed at the wolves. At that moment, one wolf switched aggro to Lillian and lunged at him.
Having slaughtered countless Titans—and people—Lillian felt no fear toward a creature like this.
He pulled the one-handed hammer from his waist and stood his ground, activating the only weapon skill available at his current level.
[Heavy Hammer Spark!]
Golden light wrapped around the hammer as it came crashing down. The blow landed cleanly—a guaranteed hit.
The wolf was sent flying several meters. In the next instant, Lillian made a throwing motion, adjusting his position two or three times until the system registered it.
[Throw]
Whoosh!
The hammer flew from his hand, striking the wolf with pinpoint accuracy and wiping out its remaining one-fifth HP.
With a bang, the wolf's body shattered into fragments and vanished.
Holy shit!
The others who were still fighting the remaining wolves witnessed that scene and nearly had their jaws hit the ground. One Skill plus a throw—and a level-5 wolf was dead just like that?! His attack power was insane! And he made it look way too easy. Wasn't he afraid at all?!
And in truth, fear was a crucial factor affecting combat performance in a full-dive game like this. Even though players didn't feel pain when attacked by monsters, everything looked terrifyingly real.
Plenty of people in real life would go out of their way to avoid even large dogs, or pass by them trembling with fear. So a wild wolf leaping straight at your face was naturally horrifying. And as for grotesque, monstrous dungeon bosses—many players were so scared they didn't even dare fight, meaning they could never fully exert their strength.
The blond gang was exactly like that. Once they were entangled by several wolves, they panicked immediately. Two of them already had HP bars dipping into yellow, not far from death.
"B-Boss! Help! Help us!"
Completely abandoning their dignity, the two of them cried out to Lillian while dodging attacks in panic. They had seen how strong he was. Pride didn't matter anymore when their lives were on the line.
"Oh, don't do that," Lillian said cheerfully, standing off to the side. "You guys looked pretty impressive earlier—bold enough to rob people. And now you can't even handle a few wolves?"
"AAAAAH—SAVE US!"
"Damn it! Hurry up and help!" Even the blond leader finally cracked. These guys were his real-life friends—he couldn't just watch them die.
"I'll pay you! Just help us!"
"…Alright." Lillian nodded. "Throw your weapons on the ground, and I'll help."
"What?!"
"If you don't like it, forget it."
They exchanged glances. There was no time to hesitate. One by one, they tossed their weapons onto the ground and immediately turned and ran. Lillian smiled faintly—then vanished in a blur. His speed was so fast that one of them nearly tripped and fell flat on his face.
In the blink of an eye, Lillian was in the center of the battlefield. He spun his one-handed hammer in a wide arc, smashing into several wolves at once—while simultaneously scooping up the discarded weapons.
In SAO, dropped weapons were exactly that: dropped. They weren't bound. Anyone who picked them up could store them in their inventory. Ownership didn't require a trade.
With their weapons safely in his bag, Lillian also pulled aggro from the wolves. The other players could only stand there, dumbstruck, watching him casually toy with the monsters—dodging every pounce with ease and killing them one by one.
When the final wolf fell, a beam of light enveloped Lillian's body.
"Oh, nice. Leveled up." He glanced at the notification. "Not bad—level 6 unlocks three skill slots."
He then looked at the group. Including the blond leader, all of them swallowed hard.
"I'll confiscate your weapons," Lillian said calmly. "Consider it your punishment. If I catch you pulling this kind of thing again, you'll be running back to town naked."
"U-Understood…"
They were resentful, but none of them dared say a word. If Lillian really forced them to strip off their armor too, they wouldn't dare refuse.
"Alright, scram." Lillian waved them off. "It's not far to town. You'll survive without weapons."
"Y-Yes…"
Terrified that Lillian might change his mind, they immediately turned and fled.
Watching them go, Lillian shook his head slightly. He didn't like killing people casually. But if he ever ran into one of those murder-obsessed "red-name guilds," he wouldn't mind avenging innocent victims. As for small fry like these? Not worth it.
As for the weapons in his inventory, he could sell them later. For now… he'd finish his wolf quest first.