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


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](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/13233/2139) 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?




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).




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).

