Did Kirito lie about being the *best* beta tester?

Question

I watched SAO on Crunchyroll, where the subtitles for episode 2 have Kirito saying:

I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the bosses skills is because I fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us.

At the time, I just accepted this as "Kirito is just that good," which was born out by his skills and abilities later on in the series. After all, someone had to be the best.

However, this question claims he lied during that speech, and I've since checked the dubbed version, where he says

During the beta, I made it to floors that were higher than any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss 'cause I fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors.

The implication of word choice and tone in the dub does sound like the kind of exaggerated bragging that gamers do when they're claiming preposterous things, but the subs don't convey that to me at all.

Is there any information showing whether he was actually lying? Was he just a good beta tester (possibly in the lead group), or was he really significantly above everyone else?

Answer 1

You can think that's a lie, but not totally.

I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the bosses skills is because I fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us.

There are two possible interpretations of his claim:

1. Kirito made it to higher floors than anyone else.

   This is incorrect, because you cannot go to higher floor without defeating the boss first. And, after you defeat it, everyone else can go to the next floor through the teleport door.

2. Kirito have more experience than others.

   This is probably correct, because from Light Novel Volume 1 - Chapter 2:

   The two months of beta testing were like a dream. At school I thought endlessly of my skill set, equipment, and items. I ran all the way home as soon as school ended and dived till dawn. The beta test ended in the blink of an eye. On the day my character was reset, I felt a sense of loss as if half of my actual self had been cut away.

   Because of this, you can assume that Kirito had spent a lot of time on the game, maybe more than others. Maybe he compiled more floor map information than other players... maybe, he knew more mobs, but he couldn't know mobs or bosses from upper floors. All information which Kirito knew was also available for other beta players if they tried to view it (maybe, but unique quests were unlikely to be made public).

   There's no info about boss defeat in beta, but there probably wasn't any boss defeated by Kirito only (but that's my opinion).

Answer 2

He was a Beta Tester. Klein identified Kirito as one in the first episode before Kayaba trapped all the players. The Sword Art Online Wiki also confirms this:

Early in the official version of the game, he noticed and identified Kirito as a beta tester, and asked to be taught the basics of fighting.

However, what Kirito was lying about was how far he got during the Beta testing phase. In fact, he only got to the 10th floor during the Beta, which was about as far any of the Beta Players got:

One of the lucky 1000 players accepted into the closed-beta, Kirito logged hundreds of hours of playtime. He, along with the other top players, were able to reach the 10th Floor before the beta had ended.

Source: Kirito: Sword Art Online Closed Beta

Also, the article on Beta Tester says

The beta period lasted until the August 31, 2022 and the beta testers managed to reach the 10th Floor by the end of the beta.

In both instances, it says that they reached the 10th floor, not cleared it.

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However, as cited in my question that you link to, during the scene, Kirito claimed that (emphasis mine):

Kirito: I made it to floors not even the other Beta players could reach.

What he claimed contradicts with the information from the Wiki, so I think Kirito is lying about his progress.

Also Kirito seemed to be out of character when he acted stuck up and looked down at the other Beta Players as he compared himself to them and accepted the term Beater. So while Kirito is one of the top Beta Players, I believe he was lying about his own progress during this scene¹.

^{1 This is based on watching the anime. I have not read the light novels.}

Answer 3

Yes, Kirito did lie. Before Klein tried to log out, he said that he reached till floor 8 in 2 months. About the term "beater" in the extra edition of SAO, the guy said that he accepted his fate just to keep other beta testers from being hated.

Answer 4

I think that he lied in that scene because he wanted to get all the hate towards him. He must've did that to make betas not receive so much hate. But, he could have meant he leveled up wayyyy higher then other betas. Though I still think he did that to make the betas receive less hate and not to brag.

Answer 5

Ok, I have an idea. This was the beta, right? So wouldn't there be bugs? What if he wasn't lying about advancing past other beta testers? What if he found a glitch a way to pass floors with nothing stopping him?

Also what if he fought the bosses, but merely got them low and claimed he beat them. But just before killing the boss he would leave, but not without reward. Because that reward would be knowing how to fight and beat the bosses. The boss would live to continue keeping the gate closed for other testers. So perhaps he did go to other floors farther above. And since it's the beta, the bosses may be easier to fight. They may have the same abilities in the alpha but their attack damage and maybe attack speed had increased. Or maybe more HP and less damage but maybe the room itself worked against you. Like hidden traps for the boss to push or somehow get you into.

So, in conclusion, I believe that he did make it way higher than other beta testers but in a way that made it impossible for them to progress without finding that glitch. Being able to advance levels just before killing the boss. Maybe even acquiring new items. I don't believe that you'd get a plethora of items at the start of the game. But seeing as he said previously that he was imagining item builds means that he may have more items then just beginner items.

Answer 6

I believe he made this statement to try and remove the hate towards other Beta testers and direct it at himself.

Answer 7

Maybe he did actually get higher than the other beta testers. In the anime when Kirito claims that he made it to higher floors than any other beta tester it shows a map of Aincrad flying by in the background. As the map pans by you can count the floor levels highlighted in red. If you count the floors it ends up at the 29th floor. This appears that if he was saying he went to higher floors than any other beta tester he wound up on the 29th floor without passing it. Although this does not confirm if he really did end up on the 29th floor or not, I think it can be assumed that he is claiming he went to the 29th floor.

This also maybe just a cool background that the anime chose to show to represent the idea that he has made it to high levels.