Bread that gives hope in despair

Under the sunlight filtering through the dense foliage, Noah stood in the middle of a lush forest. A gentle breeze added to the peace of the forest, but the tranquility was soon shattered by the roar and rustling of leaves. In front of Noah, a giant snake-like monster slithered out of the bushes, its eyes burning with rage and hunger.

Noah held a spear made of gleaming silver metal in his hand. The snake writhed towards Noah, trying to attack him with its sharp, threatening teeth.

"Time to begin," Noah muttered, focusing his mind on the monster's movements. He stepped forward, dodging the snake's first swift attack. With agility, Noah spun and swung his spear with deadly precision.

His spear shot out, piercing the snake's rough skin, Noah's attacks never stopped attacking the snake like a storm. Digital blood gushed out, spreading like broken pixels, in just a few seconds the snake's HP bar dropped to 0. The snake screeched, writhing in pain before it fell, making a vibrating sound before turning into data fragments that flew into the air.

"Level up!" The notification sound rang in his ears, signaling that he had gained additional experience.

Soon after, another snake emerged from the darkness, larger and more terrifying than the previous one. This snake had black shiny scales, as if made of obsidian. With astonishing speed, Noah shot forward, striking with his spear again.

The snake swooped down, trying to hit Noah. However, with practiced movements, Noah crouched and dodged, then launched his spear with full force towards the snake's neck. His spear pierced through, and once again triggered a critical hit, digital blood sprayed into the air as the snake's HP continued to decrease. The snake collapsed, turning into data fragments before disappearing completely.

Noah continued exploring the forest and the rustling sound was heard again. This time, two snakes appeared at the same time, swooping from two different directions. They moved agilely, trying to surround Noah.

Noah watched the movements of the two snakes, and when the right moment came, he stepped to the side and launched his spear at one of the snakes. The spear pierced the monster's body, while he avoided the attack from the other snake.

The second snake sped away at high speed, its sharp teeth ready to bite. But Noah was ready. With a swift movement, he turned and stabbed the snake with his spear, right in the chest. Once again, digital blood gushed out, and the snake fell, shattered into pieces of data.

Noah's battle was not only with snake-shaped monsters but also many other monsters such as wolves. It could be said that the monsters on the 1st floor of Aincard were basically animals on earth.

"Level up!" the notification sound sounded again, Noah was currently at level 6. Although Noah leveled up leisurely and unhurriedly, he had been at the forefront of all players. Today was only the fourth day of this death game, the highest level of other players was basically at level 4. The higher the level, the harder it was to raise it because of the large amount of experience points needed. In order to make this game more realistic, Kayaba Akihiko deliberately designed the level up process not to be too fast.

This forest was full of surprises. Suddenly, from behind, a roar was heard. Noah turned around and saw a large bull, much larger than the bulls on earth. This bull had a terrifying appearance, with dark black skin and glowing red eyes. The bull was level 10 and was an elite monster in this area.

The huge bull rushed towards Noah at incredible speed, letting out a roar that shook the ground. Noah jumped to the side, avoiding the initial attack.

Noah quickly approached the bull from the side and stabbed the bull's stomach. The bull turned around and kicked Noah with his front leg. Noah dodged the attack precisely and stabbed the bull's eye socket. Because of the critical attack, the bull's HP immediately dropped to yellow. Noah's attacks did not stop, with a series of attacks, he aimed his spear at the more vulnerable parts of the body.

Every time his spear hit, digital blood gushed, and every successful attack knocked the bull down and its HP bar continued to drop endlessly like flowing water before stopping when the HP bar became 0.

The bull roared loudly, then its body fell to the ground, shaking for a moment before disintegrating into sparkling data fragments.

After leveling up all morning, Noah decided to return to the starting town, he was not in a hurry to finish the game, so he usually only leveled up and farmed for a few hours, not as desperate as other players who leveled up until late at night.

....

When Noah was on his way to the inn and passed an alley, he saw a player wearing a brownish red robe huddled in the corner. Because the robe covered the entire body and head, Noah could not see the gender of the person from a distance. Because Noah's curiosity got the better of him, when he arrived in front of the person, Noah was sure that the person was a woman.

Although Noah's perception in the digital body state had weakened, it was not so excessive that he could not even tell a person's gender. Although Aincard was a virtual world, for some reason this world became more real as time went by so Noah could use his perception to investigate the aura emitted by a person.

Noah stood in front of the red-robed woman who made the woman raise her head and look at Noah with a look of confusion and uncertainty.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice sounding weak and desperate.

"My name is Vermilion. What are you doing here?" Noah said introducing his game ID.

The woman did not answer, she just lowered her head again. The red-robed woman still looked confused, her eyes full of despair staring at the ground.

It was already late afternoon and Noah remembered that he seemed to have not eaten, although eating did not make him full and as a god he did not need food, but out of habit, Noah still did it.

Noah took out a piece of bread from his inventory, different from the bland bread that other players usually ate, Noah's bread gave off a fragrant aroma and had a taste that was no different from bread in the real world. This bread was bread that he made himself after getting the cooking skill.

Although SAO is currently free to be creative, unlocking life skills still requires conditions.

Smelling the aroma of bread, the woman unconsciously raised her head. She had not eaten food that had aroma and taste for a long time, usually just bland white bread.

"Here, try it. It may not be much, but it can help you feel better," Noah said as he handed the bread as he felt the woman's gaze

The woman observed the bread that Noah offered. She looked hesitant, but the aroma of the bread continued to tempt her like a devil, the fragrant aroma of the bread seemed to give her a small hope in the midst of the darkness that enveloped her. after a while, she couldn't stand it anymore and took the bread from Noah's hand.

She took a bite, and even though the taste was simple, a warm and full feeling began to flow throughout her body. As if the bread reminded her that she was still alive, that there was hope in the midst of this darkness. Tears flowed without realizing it, after knowing that she was trapped in a death game, all this time she had been in fear. But the bread that Noah gave her reminded her that her family was still waiting in the outside world.

"Thank you, Vermilion-san. I feel better now. This food is amazing." The woman said gratefully. Her voice was no longer as desperate as before, she now had a strong desire to live and beat this game so she could meet her family again.

"Glad to hear it," Noah replied briefly.

"That... can I ask for your help, I don't know how to fight, if possible I want you to teach me" the woman said embarrassed because she was bothering others.

"Sure. By the way, what's your name?" Noah nodded and asked the woman's name.

"My name is Asuna" The woman said introducing her game ID.

"Then, Asuna, we'll meet again tomorrow afternoon at the early west gate" Noah said to Asuna before going to his inn. He didn't expect that the person he met was Asuna.

Asuna watched Noah's figure moving away until Noah was no longer visible before leaving.