I like traveling the most

After separating from Xiaolin and the others, Kirito has been leveling up with the members of the Moonlit Night Black Cat Group.

Of course, he has never slacked off. In order not to fall behind the members of the strategy group and to be eligible to participate in the BOSS strategy battle, he ran to the front line alone every night to kill monsters and level up. He even met Klein and others on the 28th floor.

Talented people will always come to the fore.

The [Wind, Forest, and Fire Mountain] established by Klein has also become a well-known guild in Aincrad. Although he cannot join the strategy group for the time being, he thinks that he will be able to do so with a little more effort.

Kirito also realized what Xiaolin said.

The current level of Klein and others is only less than five levels behind that of the Moonlit Night Black Cat Group, but whether it is the judgment of monsters, terrain or battle situation, it is far better than Xing and others. Especially in terms of cooperation, there is a shadow of the members of the strategy group.

Is he wrong?

Kirito was actually trying to guide them to cooperate with each other, but some things are innate, and no matter how hard you try, you can't do it, especially in a death game, where the life value will be reduced to zero and the game will be over if you are not careful.

He thought of a girl who wanted to transform into a shield warrior, but had no progress.

It's no wonder. If you want to fight a vicious monster at a very close distance, it is more important than the numerical level to be able to endure fear and fight to the last moment. Not long after SAO started, many players died because they panicked in close combat.

If you have to say it.

In fact, Yuki is a quiet coward, and I don't think she is suitable to be a forward.

Kirito has a high level, so he can temporarily take on the job of a meat shield, but the other members don't think so. It should be said that they seem to feel bad for always throwing the tiring tank work to Kirito who joined in the middle.

Although they didn't say it out loud because of the good feelings of the team, the pressure Yuki felt was getting bigger and bigger.

Finally, one day——

"Oh no, Kirito, Yuki is missing!"

"...What?"

"I said Yuki is missing, no matter where she is, she can't be found! Even her location is not listed in the guild list!"

For members who join the guild, the guild leader has the authority to know the location of the members.

Of course, the premise is in the town.

If it is in the maze area, there is nothing we can do.

The Moonlight Black Cat Group and others were all in a mess, and they immediately went out to search. The direction they ran to was all the maze area. Only Kirito, who was higher than several people in level, knew that Yuki did not go to the maze area, and used tracking and exploration skills to successfully find the thin figure in the canal with a short distance on the street.

No wonder she couldn't be found, it turned out that she was wearing a cloak with concealment function.

At this time, Yuki was squatting on the ground with her hands on her knees, looking at the canal with dull eyes, wondering what she was thinking.

Was he wrong?

Kirito thought of what Xiaolin said again, and blamed himself for not noticing Yuki's changes because he had been sneaking to level up during this period.

"...Xing."

"Kirito...how did you know I was here?"

"Intuition."

"...I see."

Xing smiled slightly.

Kirito clenched his fists, but didn't confess that he used a high-level skill to find her. He moved his mouth and said, "Everyone is worried about you and ran to the maze area to look for you. Go back quickly."

The silence lasted for several minutes.

When Kirito was about to say the same thing again, the weak voice of Xing, who was still lowering her head, came.

"Kirito, let's escape together."

"From where?"

"From this town, everyone in the Black Cat Group, monsters...from SAO."

The girl's words made him numb.

"Does this mean...to commit suicide together?"

Silence again.

This silence made Kirito feel uncomfortable, and his heart was about to explode.

"Hehe...yes, this should be good...no, sorry, I lied to you. If I had the courage to commit suicide, I wouldn't hide in the town's safe zone."

Xing's words made Kirito feel lucky for no reason.

He didn't know whether the girl would not commit suicide again or whether she didn't need him to die with her.

"I am afraid of death. I have hardly slept recently because of fear." Yuki murmured: "Why did this happen? Why can't I leave the game? Why can I really die when it's just a game? What can that person named Kayaba Akihiko get by doing this? What's the point of doing this?"

The girl's question is almost the same as the question of all players, and Kirito can answer them separately. But he knew that Yuki was not looking for that kind of answer.

But Kirito didn't know how to comfort people.

No matter what he did, he couldn't think of comforting words, so he could only clumsily make the lie more solid.

"——You won't die!"

"Why can you say that?"

"...Even if the Black Cat Group remains the same, it is still a powerful guild, and you have the necessary safety level. As long as you stay in the guild, you can live safely."

Yuki raised his head and looked at Kirito with a dependent look, but he couldn't look directly into those eyes and lowered his head.

"Really? Can I really survive to the end? Can I return to reality alive?"

"Ah, you won't die. You will definitely live until the day when the game walkthrough is completed."

These are words that are completely unconvincing and carry no weight at all. Even so, Sachi leaned towards Kirito, rested her face on his shoulder and cried.

Suppressed emotions are released.

After a while, he summoned everyone in the Moon Night Black Cat Group to explain the situation, and took Xing back to the hotel.

Because she was tired from crying, Xing asked her to go back to her room to rest first, while Kirito waited for the rest of the Moonlight Black Cat Group to return in the tavern on the first floor.

Because of this incident, the members of the Moon Night Black Cat Group realized what had happened to Xing, so they were very considerate and did not continue to ask further questions. At the same time, Kirito continued to be in the front row, and Yuki readily agreed with his decision to become a spear warrior.

From the next night on, Sachi slept in Kirito's room every night.

But don't get me wrong, nothing happened.

Kirito and Sachi were not lovers. They had never slept in the same bed, cuddled up to each other, spoken words of love, or even stared at each other. Instead, he stayed by the bedside every night, repeating to Xing, who huddled up because of uneasiness, like he was chanting a mantra: "You will not die, you will not die, you will definitely live."

Whenever he said this, Xing, who was covered with blankets, would smile slightly, look up at him, and then fall into a light sleep.

But this treats the symptoms rather than the root cause. If you want to make a complete change...

Kirito made up his mind.

So, the next day, he brought Lucky to the first floor of Aincrad.

The current starting town has undergone major changes. Thanks to Kayaba Akihiko's wide permission for player freedom, any building can be changed after obtaining permission.

The first level - this starting town with a large number of players, has also become the base camp of the [Acusis Cult] and the [Business Alliance] established by Sato Kazuma.

By the way, the Business Alliance is not a guild, but a group, and the speaker is Kazuma Sato who founded it.

"U-Um...Kirito, what can we do if we come to the first floor?"

Xing was a little nervous.

For high-level players who have taken a rocket from the eleventh floor to the twenty-second floor in just one month, they will not feel nervous or uncomfortable when they come to the starting town, but if they come to the starting town The east side of Shizhi Town is a different matter.

The cathedral, which stands on the east side of the town, occupies almost a quarter of the area, and is almost as high as the second floor, is full of sacred atmosphere and is intimidating.

This is the headquarters of the Axis Cult.

Many players come and go here, with different looks, genders, and ages, but the only thing they have in common is that they are all lifestyle players. Of course, they all had happy smiles on their faces.

If the twenty-sixth floor where the strategy team is located smells of death, then the floor where Xing and others are located smells of danger, but the starting town smells of joy and happiness.

Our style of painting is different!

It's obviously a death game, but it's so happy and joyful. Fortunately, I feel fuzzy inside, and I always feel uncomfortable somewhere.

"Kirito, we are here..."

"Xing, I want you to meet someone."

"Who is the person you are meeting...?"

Kirito didn't answer.

He fiddled with the system, sent an email to the player named [Kazuma], and then stood waiting outside the church door.

Generally speaking, large guilds - such as the Knights of the Blood Alliance have players guarding the door. As long as they come forward and inform them of their intention, someone will come in and report. Of course, the Axis Cult also has one, but Kirito doesn't want to waste time. Xiaolin said that he can come and find them directly. Own.

Soon, a man and a woman came out of the church. Sachi hugged Kirito's arm with some fear, and at the same time shrank her body behind Kirito.

The man... was handsome in a word, but that was all. On the contrary, the woman with aqua-blue hair who was jumping behind him caught Sachi's eyes deeply.

There is only one woman with aqua hair in Aincrad.

It is said that the Church of Axis was established because of this girl with aqua-blue hair. She helped those who had lost their souls many times in the early stages of the game, allowing them to bounce back from panic and fear. In order to help more players, she established the Axis Cult, and also gained the resounding title [Goddess of Wisdom].

Because Aqua always claimed that she was a goddess, she got this title over time.

"Ah, you're here, Kirito."

Xiao Lin looked at the man and woman at the bottom of the steps.

He grinned and snapped his fingers.

"Aqua."

"Okay! Leave it to me!"

The stupid goddess eagerly walked towards Xing, and then forcibly pulled her away regardless of the girl's resistance.

"Wait, wait...Kirito? Kirito!"

"Sorry, Sachi."

Kirito tilted his head and allowed Sachi to be taken away.

Xiao Lin said: "I didn't expect you to bring her here. I thought you were the only one here."

"……What's the meaning?"

"After all, Kirito likes to get into trouble and always takes the blame on himself."

Kirito was silent.

He knew what Xiao Lin meant, and that was indeed the case. He gave Yuki a hand, why didn't Xiaolin give him a hand?

"Don't worry, Aqua will take care of it."

"……yes."

After all, so many players in Aincrad, including Asuna, have been saved by Aqua, so it will definitely be okay if they are lucky.

"So, why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

"friend?"

Kirito was a little confused by Kobayashi's sudden words, but when he followed Kobayashi's gaze and looked at the few people who were unable to dodge at the corner of the street, his expression changed a little.

They were the companions of the Moonlit Black Cats.

As if they realized that they were discovered, they did not continue to hide, but walked out awkwardly.

"Didn't you... say that today was a holiday?"

"That's right, but I accidentally saw you and Xing together, and I thought you were dating. I was so curious, so... But I didn't expect that you, Kirito, actually know Mr. [Thousand Changes]! Then, that... what is the relationship between the two of you?"

He seemed a little reserved.

This is understandable. After all, the Axis Church is the top guild in Aincrad, and Kobayashi is a well-known player who can occupy the top few even in the strategy group.

"I, I..."

"We are friends."

Kobayashi interrupted Kirito and said, "I was helped by Kirito before, so I owe him a favor."

"Is that so--"

The members of the Moonlit Black Cat Group accepted it easily.

Perhaps in their opinion, Kirito is a helpful person, so there is nothing wrong with helping Kobayashi unintentionally.

"I just didn't expect that Kirito would choose to use this favor on you."

"Hmm..."

Kobayashi's words made them silent.

Since the last time that Sachi disappeared late at night and Kirito asked to continue to serve as the vanguard, they understood what happened. It's just that they were blinded by their ever-increasing strength and subconsciously didn't think about it. However, the consequence of their doing so was that Sachi's pressure became greater and greater, to the point where he had to seek guidance from outsiders.

"Then, that...! What is the difference between us... us and the people in the strategy group?"

"Awareness."

A decisive answer.

The members of the Moonlit Black Cat Group were somewhat unwilling.

Kobayashi saw this and said, "If that's the case, why don't we try to fight on the upper floors? That way, we will definitely understand the difference between the strategy team and ordinary players."

The Moonlight Black Cats agreed without hesitation.

The monsters were not much different in level from their own, and without Kirito's information, they were naturally beaten to a pulp.

On the other hand, Kobayashi and others were still at ease on the upper floors.

"You know, the only thing trapping the strategy team is the boss. Even ordinary monsters can't be easily defeated, so don't expect to fight the boss."

————

After that, Kobayashi asked Sato Kazuma and Raine, who had changed his job to a shield warrior, to accompany them to upgrade on the upper floors. Several near-death experiences made the Moonlight Black Cats understand how arrogant their ideas were, and that their previous words were just too ambitious.

At the same time, the identities of Kirito's members of the strategy team were exposed, but under Kobayashi's explanation, Kirito's behavior was justified - it became a screening of talents to join the strategy team, and it was a disguised recognition that the members of the Moonlight Black Cat Group had the potential to join the strategy team, which made them extremely happy.

Although this lesson was not impressive, at least they did not die because of it, nor did they hate Kirito because of it, and Kirito did not blame himself for it, so it can be said that everyone was happy.

The only problem is -

"Axis believers can do it if they work hard. Even if they fail, it is not the believers' fault, and if they cannot succeed, it is the world's fault. Just escape from unhappy things, and escape is not failure."

The girl folded her hands and looked pious.

That's right, I became an Axis believer!