I like traveling the most

"No one has much motivation lately."

Aqua suddenly said this in the labyrinth area on the 55th floor.

I don't know if everyone's progress has slowed down. Even this stupid goddess has changed her leveling location to the front line as time goes by, and joined the rest of the team.

Sato Kazuma stopped what he was doing after killing a monster and said, "Okay, then Aqua, you can perform some talents here to liven up the atmosphere."

"I don't want it. And I can't use my talents casually. I need someone to support me."

The stupid goddess refused decisively.

Just like a certain Biluo teacher who needs 100,000 fans to show her face, I don't know what she is insisting on. Obviously, when she drank too much in the tavern before, she couldn't be stopped.

"Besides, that's not what I meant. By the way, you have also noticed this weird tension and anxiety."

"Aqua is right, I feel it too."

Darkness nodded.

Alice whispered, "Why don't I sing a song here? That way, everyone can get refreshed."

Kureya and Rain agreed.

"No, I don't think that will help." Huihui shook her head and pointed at the others, saying, "Look, those people look like they are working hard, but they are just going crazy. Singing can't heal them."

"It's really strange."

Kobayashi pinched his chin.

At first, he thought they were anxious because they couldn't clear the 55th floor, but now it seems that they are too anxious.

Youyou said, "Maybe they haven't rested."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"That, that... When I was in the Crimson Demon Clan, I studied every day and worked hard to catch up with Huihui. One time, I fell ill and fell down. I think they should be like this too."

I didn't expect that there was such a connection between them.

"What are you talking about, Youyou."

"Everyone has rested."

"That's right. No one conquered floors during the New Year, so they were resting, right?"

Huihui and others talked at once.

It was a little hard for Youyou to explain.

"That, that..."

"Wait, I think I understand what Youyou means."

That's it.

The instantaneous flow rate of office workers.

Although it was a holiday, it didn't feel like a holiday. In this state, no matter how many days of vacation you have, as long as you return to your post, work will seem like yesterday's work, and the recovered energy will disappear instantly.

SAO did not force players to conquer floors at the fastest speed, but under the threat of death, they dared not slack off at all, and over time they developed an irrecoverable fatigue.

After Youyou's reminder just now, Xiaolin had a flash of inspiration.

It took a month to conquer the first floor at first. At that time, everyone didn't believe that they were trapped in the game, and still had the fantasy of being saved by the outside world, but as time went by, everyone gradually recognized the reality.

When the New Year passed, they mustered up the courage and ignited their enthusiasm to conquer floors quickly. At that time, they conquered the fastest day, breaking through a floor every three days on average, which greatly boosted everyone's confidence.

But as time went by and it came to the second year, everyone found that they had only cleared a little more than half of the level. The huge gap made the members of the strategy team no longer confident, and the boring strategy floors also made them physically and mentally exhausted.

This point can be understood from this year.

Their strategy speed has slowed down. It’s not that the difficulty of the floors has been raised to a higher level - although there are factors in it, but more of it is that they have become lazy and tired.

"It really depends on Aqua’s talent show."

"Eh——————"

Hearing Kobayashi say this, Aqua immediately made a depressed booing sound, and then he said:

"But I think it should be useless."

"Why?"

Sato Kazuma didn't understand.

The reason is simple. Aqua's talent can indeed make people praise it endlessly, but how many times do you think the stupid goddess has performed her talent? She performs from time to time, and no matter how good the talent is, you will get tired of it.

"I think this is why Aqua doesn't want to perform."

"Really?"

"That's right! Stupid Kazuma, you don't understand at all. Talent is like magic. Once it's discovered, it will be boring. I really hope you can learn from Kobayashi. It's because you are always inconsiderate that you can't get girls' love... It hurts, it hurts, it hurts--!"

Before she finished speaking, Sato Kazuma pinched the stupid goddess' head and didn't let go no matter how she cried out in pain and begged for mercy.

"Then what should Kobayashi do in this situation?"

"Yes, let me think..."

Kobayashi was not obliged to solve this kind of anxiety, but considering that their problems would affect his and others' floor-the higher the floor of SAO, the stronger the boss, and the existence of a joint force is necessary. For example, the situation where only 18 people cleared the fifth floor does not exist at all on the higher floors.

"Hold a large festival, a festival for the players themselves."

"The festival for the players themselves?" xN

Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what Kobayashi meant.

There are also many events in SAO, such as Christmas and New Year. In order to make players feel at home, Kayaba Akihiko has done a lot. But the game is a game after all, and it is a death game. People have no time to play it. Especially the members of the strategy group, they only care about whether there are powerful props and weapons in the event. For example, the apostate Nicholas.

"If Alice's idol event is aimed at ordinary players and life players, then this festival is aimed at top players."

"Top players?"

Darkness was a little confused: "What is it specifically? I think Xiaolin should understand that the strategy group members are only interested in the strategy floor and the best leveling location. They rarely do time-wasting things like festivals."

She is right.

The strategy group players are always improving their levels and skill proficiency. They will never waste time like Kirito to help the Silver Banner Guild Leader catch the murderer.

"You're wrong, Darkness. They're not only interested in conquering floors and leveling locations, they're also interested in one more thing."

"What?"

"Who is the strongest player?"

"...The strongest?"

"Yes, the strongest!"

Kobayashi spread his hands and said as if he saw through everything: "In any game, there will be so-called player rankings. But there is no such system in SAO, and it is impossible to distinguish who is the strongest player. Then, let us... no, all the players witness it!"

"Really? Let's do this!"

Sato Kazuma clapped his hands, and his sudden realization was questioned by everyone.

The members of the strategy team are a small group of top people in the entire Aincrad, and the players who can join the joint team to conquer floors are the best of the best.

Although everyone knows each other and has a good relationship, once it comes to strength, it will change.

Just like the first floor, no one wants the first floor BOSS to be cleared without their knowledge - the so-called player soul, who is the strongest player in SAO, they also have their own persistence and unyielding personality.

"I think it's time to prove who is the strongest player in SAO."

The game has been launched for a year and a half, and talented and capable players have already emerged. There are no top players who are buried at all - even if they have a good talent for playing games, they dare not take risks, which means they are not top players and cannot be compared with the small group of people standing at the top.

"Is that so? Is this the festival for high-level players?"

Darkness blushed and twisted her body and said, "I have only been attacked by monsters all this time. If I can taste the attacks of players who are stronger than monsters... Great! Ha-ah-ha-ah!"

Uh...

Sato Kazuma showed a disgusted expression: "You, are not allowed to participate!"

"I don't want it!"

The perverted female knight has begun to have wild thoughts.

"But will this work?"

Alice was a little worried: "Not all members of the strategy group want to prove themselves. For example, Uncle Agil works hard just to clear the level. I think there are many people who think the same as him and will not participate in the festival."

"At this time, we need something attractive." Sato Kazuma smiled evilly.

"Attractive things?"

"That's the so-called prizes."

Kobayashi touched Alice's head and said: "The players in the strategy group are all a group of strategy fanatics. They are only interested in excellent leveling locations and powerful weapons and props. So, can't we just take out these things?"

After thinking for a while, he said: "Aqua, contribute the Holy Crystal of Resurrection."

"Hey——"

"Don't feel wronged. You have been holding it for three months, haven't you researched anything? Hurry up, it happens that this time we need it to attract players, contribute it!"

Sato Kazuma has already grabbed it.

Kobayashi was thinking about whether he could get Aqua to research something. He had always done so in the past, but unfortunately it didn't work this time. Because the Resurrection Saint Crystal is a game item, even the goddess has no idea how to use it and can only stare blankly.

The Resurrection Saint Crystal is the only resurrection item in SAO at present. It is a unique item and its attraction is absolutely extraordinary, which is more than enough to tempt those top players.

As for other prizes...

"Xiaolin Senior, how about making an exclusive weapon for the second place?"

"Weapons?"

"Yes. It does not require any remuneration or materials from the player, and it can be kept and used by any player without any time limit. Even if the strategy reaches the 99th floor, we will help him make the strongest weapon at present. If this is used as a selling point, I believe the members of the strategy team will be crazy about it."

"...Not bad!"

Sato Kazuma's suggestion is quite good.

What top players need most is powerful weapons, which is slightly inferior to armor. After all, if you can't break the BOSS's defense, you can never pass the level.

Following this idea, they decided on other rewards one after another.

The third place winner will get the current strongest weapon, the fourth place winner will get other special items, the fifth place winner will get special skill information, etc. From top weapons to a meeting with the idol princess Alice, there are all kinds of rewards. As long as you can enter the top 16, you will get rich prizes, and even if you can't enter the top 16, you will still get a certain amount of bonus.

"So they should all come to participate, right?"

"I don't think anyone can refuse."

Because the offer is too much.

You can imagine how generous the rewards are to impress the top players. Even the Axis Cult will have to work hard.

"Can you hold on?"

"Don't worry, Senior Kobayashi. I have plenty of ways to make it back. For example, selling some peripherals, snacks and drinks, and betting on the favorites to win the championship and then the dealer takes all the outside bets... Hehehehehe——I will make more than I spend, hahahaha——"

Sato Kazuma laughed up to the sky, and his laughter was extremely scumbag. I really hope that his talent as a businessman can be used in the right place, but forget it this time.

"What about the conditions for determining the winner? Use the first hit win-lose mode?"

"No, that's too unspectacular, and it's too preferential to the rapier users with full agility. This time, use the half-loss win-lose mode."

Let me explain again.

SAO has a total of three PK methods.

Each is the deathmatch mode, which is to win by reducing the opponent's health to zero. Then there is the first hit win-lose mode, where the person who attacks the opponent first wins. Finally, there is the half-loss win-lose mode, where the person who first reduces the opponent's health to less than half wins.

"Is it okay? What if PoH and others sneak in..."

This worry is unreasonable.

On the fifth floor, Kirito told him that someone used the half-loss win-lose mode to try to kill people reasonably, and this method later spread, so players gave up this PK mode and switched to the first hit win-lose mode.

"Then let's set the level."

Sato Kazuma said: "The level of the participants must be above level 50. If they have relatively enough health, even in the half-loss win-lose mode, they will not die due to heavy hits that cause their health to drop to zero."

"This is a good idea."

Kobayashi nodded.

Darkness said, "Isn't this condition too harsh? There aren't many players above level 50."

"That has nothing to do with us. Do we have to wait for them to level up? For top players, level is the least important."

As for whether the players would have any opinions or not, he wouldn't care. If you want to participate in the festival, you have to abide by their rules. And Xiaolin didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to use this to kill people in broad daylight, because that would make them the enemy of the top players in SAO.

"Besides, Darkness, you should prefer this kind of duel. If the first hit decides the winner, you won't be able to experience the pleasure of being attacked."

"What...!"

Darkness looked like she had just thought of it.

"But if that happens, we're also excluded from the door."

Meihui was a little unhappy.

Her level has reached level 74, but she is just a flag-carrying Jinchūriki. Her only way of attack is to throw fireworks bombs. Obviously, the duel at the festival will not allow her to throw bombs. Even if she throws bombs, she can't hit the high-level players with fast movement speed and agility.

Hearing her say this, it seems that she and Liu Zi can't participate. If the two of them can participate together, it's okay, but obviously others will not agree to the justice of two-on-one. Even people who are not good at fighting, such as Youyou and Rain, can't participate.

"Don't lose heart, Huihui, you can still participate."

"Kazuma?"

"The festival needs someone to set off fireworks as the opening ceremony, so you can set off fireworks to your heart's content when the time comes."

"Kazuma?!"

The little loli was stunned.

Aqua was very interested in this festival and asked, "Xiaolin Xiaolin, since it is a festival, it must have a name, right?"

"I've thought of this a long time ago."

"What's it called?"

"——The World's No. 1 Martial Arts Tournament!"