Money Can Buy Everything

024: Regaining the Lost Memories

"Welcome To Sword Art Online!"

With the appearance of the prompt, Momo finally logged into the game and found himself in the central square of Tolbana, the Starting City.

It was now 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and only a few players had logged in at this time. Almost all of the ten thousand players were already online. The square was sparsely populated, with most people either idling around, socializing, or those with more ambition had probably already started leveling up and fighting monsters.

"Wow!"

Momo curled up his body, excitement filling his eyes. Despite living for a hundred years in his previous life, Earth never had such an advanced full-dive game. Due to controversies and public criticisms about full-dive technology, it had only been applied to various small games and large single-player games.

As for full-dive technology in large-scale online games, various interest groups had continuously hindered its progress citing safety and ethical reasons.

By the time such a game appeared on Earth in his previous life, Momo was almost ninety years old and could no longer play games. Thus, he paid little attention to these disputes.

However, now, in the prime of his youth, Momo finally got to experience this full-dive game.

"Kayaba is truly a genius. Even though this is a two-dimensional world and not real, the fact that he single-handedly pushed the entire world's technological level forward is truly commendable."

Reimu, too, entered the game and maintained her usual appearance, sitting on top of Momo's head. She said, "But he's still a paranoid lunatic."

"Yeah, but being able to create such a game... Huh, why can't I suddenly remember the name of this game?"

"You idiot, don't tell me you forgot about the deal with Kayaba? According to the deal, you are supposed to forget all information about this game and enter it as a completely clueless newbie."

Momo widened his eyes in surprise and said, "Really? Did I really do something like that? If I don't know the plot, won't we have to progress step by step in the game?"

"It's too late to regret now. Hmph, it's too late. Anyway, I won't tell you everything about this game. Don't count on me."

Momo thought for a moment, then reached out and poked Reimu, saying, "Actually, you forgot too, right?"

"Ah!"

Reimu jumped in surprise and exclaimed, "How... How did you know?"

"As I thought! Haha!"

Momo laughed heartily, drawing the attention of everyone around him, and said, "Reimu, we are truly one and the same! I forgot about the game's content, and you also forgot about it. I remember my deal was related only to myself, so are you also a part of me?"

"Cut it out! Don't say such foolish things. I got involved because of you! Damn it, why do even my memories have to be erased?"

Reimu angrily kicked Momo's head, but both of them knew that if she still remembered the game's development, most likely Momo would extract information from her. So, the deal also ensured that Reimu forgot everything.

"Now it's too late to regret. We are completely clueless about the game, and we don't even know its name. How can we play like this?"

Momo rubbed his chin and pondered quietly before saying, "Technically, I wouldn't do something that would put myself in such a dire situation. So, I must have had a plan when I made the deal. What could it be?"

"What plan? I think you've gone mad."

"Right!"

Momo clapped his hands together and said, "I forgot! Reimu, why are we so nervous?"

"Do you have a solution?"

"No, I don't."

"If you have no solution, why are you so excited? Really, I don't feel safe at all when I'm with you."

"Tsk, tsk!"

Momo wagged his finger and said, "So, Reimu, you are too naive. When there's no way out, you should cheat! This is a game, and what's a game without cheats?"

Reimu didn't react for a while, but then she covered her face, realizing what Momo was about to do.

"Oh, Almighty God!"

Momo raised his hand to the sky and said, "I propose a trade with you. I'll trade ten years of my lifespan to regain the memories I lost, how about it?"

"You couldn't be more shameless! You traded all your memories with Kayaba and now you want to recover them?"

"That's just your misunderstanding. Erasing memories is a one-time trade. I didn't promise to remain in this game without any memories. For a one-time trade, there is no after-sales service."

Reimu was left speechless and tried to argue, "But this isn't fair, equitable, or voluntary at all. You deceived Kayaba! It doesn't align with the principles of fairness, equivalency, and voluntarism. You committed fraud in the trade!"

"So, Reimu, you still haven't fully understood these three principles."

"Regarding fairness, I didn't influence Kayaba's perception of value and the trade. He just had an incomplete understanding himself, and I had the advantage of information, naturally having the right to increase the returns."

"Afterward, his misperception of the trade item led to a transaction that didn't meet his expectations, but that was his mistake. I didn't violate the principles of equivalence and voluntarism, did I?"

Reimu remained silent for a long time before finally understanding what Momo was implying. She muttered to herself, "The face of a cunning merchant. You're thoroughly a cunning merchant!"

Now that you've translated it into English, if you have any questions or need further clarification on any part, feel free to ask!

"You- to think that you are such a person, the Almighty God won't accept your trade."

Reimu had just declared, but with a solemn expression, she immediately announced four words, "Trade accepted."

"The Almighty God has agreed to your request, and he only requires one year of your lifespan."

Currently, Momo has 99 years of life remaining. Countless streams of data rushed into his mind, and the lost memories were restored.

"Well, not bad. This is how it should be. I hate forgetting things!"

Reimu, however, seemed a bit gloomy as she said, "Why? Why does the Almighty God keep helping you repeatedly? Are you that favored by the Almighty God? This is obviously unfair!"

"You've misunderstood, little Reimu. This can't be considered the Almighty God's favor."

"The trade I made with the Almighty God was just for some trivial things, and this is my first world. I probably won't have many chances to directly trade with the Almighty God in the future. Even if I were to trade, it would likely come at a huge cost."

Momo's tone was heavy, and it made Reimu hesitate to tease him. However, she still couldn't help but ask, "But are these helps really insignificant?"

"What did I trade with the Almighty God? It was just the right to choose three additional skills and to regain my memories today. Even without these, I would only have different starting skills and would pursue different methods. The difference lies in the process of achieving my goals, while the results won't be any different."

Momo's voice was confident and charismatic, convincing anyone who listened.

"The Almighty God controls all worlds, all time, all matter, and all knowledge. Yet, I only requested a tiny bit of the right to choose and paid a price. For the Almighty God, what is this if not insignificant?"

Reimu fell silent. Undoubtedly, she was convinced by Momo's words.

For the past few days, she had watched Momo acting so arrogantly, seemingly attributing everything to the Almighty God's help. However, upon careful consideration, it wasn't the case.

Even if she had Momo's trading capabilities, would she trade with the Almighty God?

Even if she traded with the Almighty God and had the same starting skills as Momo, would she follow the same path as him?

Obviously not. She wouldn't do that, nor could she even think of doing that.

Momo's actions were more based on his character, cognition, and imagination, rather than the Almighty God's help.

"You've said so much, and I admit that you've convinced me. So, are you going to show off your intelligence and wit in front of me, cunning merchant?"

"No, I just wanted to ask if you've been captivated by my charm after witnessing it. I love you, little Reimu, will you marry me?"

"Oh my, don't pull my hair! If that's not possible, how about I pay you 100,000 yen per day... Ah!"

Thus, amidst the gazes of passersby, this player named Momo, acting like a madman, frolicked alone and ran towards the first layer of Aincrad's wilderness.

...

"It's so difficult, Kirito-kun. Is it really as easy as you said?"

Klein and Kirito were standing at a Lv1 Wild Boar spawning point. There weren't many people leveling up yet, so no one was fighting for their spot to kill wild boars.

"Well, let me think..."

Kirito scratched his head, feeling troubled. Although he had only known Klein for a short time, he had become acquainted with him, finding the other person's naturally friendly personality not unpleasant.

The only thing was, Klein lacked a bit of comprehension ability. He fought against a wild boar for half an hour and still couldn't unleash a sword skill.

"First, try releasing a sword skill to experience it. Follow my instructions, assume the posture, and feel the system's guidance. After that, just leave everything to the system. Like this!"

Kirito demonstrated again, picking up a stone and using a skill to hit the wild boar. The boar felt the pain and shifted its focus to Kirito.

"Okay, try again. This time, I'll take aggro from the boar, so you'll have ample preparation time."

Saying so, Kirito used his sword to block the boar's tusks while giving Klein an encouraging smile.

"May I join in?"

At that moment, Momo's voice came from afar. Kirito subconsciously turned around, and as a result, the wild boar seized the opportunity to knock him down. Klein also finally released his sword skill, but the target wild boar had already run away. Klein couldn't control the skill properly and ended up missing, then collapsed to the ground after the skill ended.