"So ......"

"Wait!"

Tilberu was about to continue assigning work when he was suddenly interrupted by a new voice.

A man with a hairstyle that seemed to be a mace didn't know when he came to the outskirts of the square, ran to the center of the square in twos and threes, and said, "I'm called the Tooth King, and I have something to say before fighting the boss." ”

"This person ......," Chu Yue suddenly said, "I'm afraid he's here to make trouble." ”

"Huh?" Kirito and Asuna glanced at Chu Yue together.

"Among these people, there must be those who must apologize to the nearly 2,000 people who died!" The Tooth King pointed to the crowd and said.

As soon as these words came out, everyone suddenly thought of something.

"Mr. Tooth King, the people you are talking about are the original closed beta players, right?" Tilberu said.

"Then you don't need to ask!" The Tooth King immediately said, "From the day this garbage game started, I abandoned the newbies and disappeared!" They monopolize good hunting grounds and report lucrative tasks, only caring about making themselves stronger, and then they look like they don't care about themselves......"

As he spoke, the Tooth King turned and shouted to the crowd around the square, "Some of you have it! The guys who participated in the closed beta! I'm going to make them kneel! Hand over all the money and items you've accumulated! Otherwise, it is impossible to treat them as teammates worthy of entrusting their lives! ”

Hearing these words, Kirito, who was already feeling guilty, suddenly hesitated.

Chu Yue, on the other hand, let out a contemptuous laugh, then put his hand on the sword at his waist and gently pulled the sword out.

However, as soon as he pulled out half of it, he was stopped.

"What do you want to do?" Asuna pressed one hand on the hilt of Chu Yue's sword and said.

"I don't like him so much that I want to teach him a lesson." Chu Yue replied.

Asuna was about to say something more when another voice rang out in the square.

"Can I speak?" A bald, dark-skinned man stood up and walked to the center of the square.

"My name is Achill, Mr. Tooth King, and what you're trying to say is that the Closed Beta players have caused a large number of novice players to die because of their selfishness, so you want them to take responsibility for this, and make compensation and apologize, right?"

"Yes, yes!" The Tooth King saw that Achill was tall and looked very difficult to mess with, and he was a little lacking in confidence for a while.

"You got these two books too, right? Because it is distributed free of charge in bookstores. One has no name, we all call it "The Guidebook", and the other has a name, called "Hope". ”

"Got it, so what?"

"The authors of these two books are closed beta players." Aegil said.

The crowd was in an uproar again.

Achill turned around again and said to everyone, "It's good, this is information that anyone can get, and there are books that help players recover their spirits, but there are still a large number of players who have died, how we should learn from the lessons, how to challenge the boss, I think this is the question that should be discussed now." ”

Syllable! Syllable! Syllable!

Chu Yue took the lead and applauded.

Kirito heard Chu Yue's applause, looked at Chu Yue with some surprise, and then applauded as well.

Everyone applauded, and the Tooth King really didn't have the face to continue to say anything, and returned to sit down around the square.

"Okay, then, let's move on to the battle meeting!" Tilberu said.

"This Wu Ke is a good person." Chu Yue praised.

"Wu Ke?" Kirito asked.

"Well, the name of my hometown is the meaning of bald head." Chu Yue said.

"Hmm......" Kirito sweated.

"Actually, the information about the boss has been released in the latest edition of this guidebook." Tilberu said, "The boss of the first layer is called 'Ilfang Kobold Lord'......"

The "Guidebook" has most of the battle information of the boss lords of the first tier, and knowing this information, it is much easier to kill the bosses of the first tier.

Of course, Chu Yue and Kirito also knew that this information was correct and there was nothing wrong with it.

But......

Chu Yue and Kirito looked at each other and nodded.

Although it is correct, Kirito and Chu Yue have already discussed it when they exchanged emails, and the boss of the first layer may have been modified, and there may be inaccuracies in this information.

After tilberu finished assigning the task, he said: "So, let's finally talk about the distribution of props, the gold coins are distributed equally among all members, the experience is obtained by the team that defeated the boss, and whoever gets the props will go to whomever they get." ”

"No objections, right?" Tilberu concluded.

The crowd discussed it with each other, and no one objected.

"Okay, we'll leave tomorrow morning at ten o'clock!" Tilberu said, "So, disband!" ”

After Tilberu's words, everyone stood up and prepared to leave.

Chu Yue and Kirito also stood up together, preparing to go to the hotel to open a room and exchange information they had received in the past month.

However, at this time, Asuna spoke.

"That ......" Asuna said to Chu Yue, "how did you know my name just now?" ”

"Huh? Don't you know? Chu Yue said.

"Hmm." Asuna nodded.

Chu Yue and Kirito looked at each other with some surprise, but they didn't expect that in this year, there were people who hadn't even found the team interface.

"In the upper left corner of the field of vision, there's a party interface, right? Take a closer look at the left side of your teammate's health bar. Chu Yue said.

"Hmm......" Asuna looked up and looked at the party screen.

"Chu Yue...... Tong...... Person? Asuna said.

"Hello, I'm Chu Yue." Chu Yue said.

"I'm Kirito." Kirito replied.

"Hara, it turned out to be here...... "I didn't find it in such an obvious place, and Asuna seemed to feel shy, so don't overdo it.

"So, Asuna, we're going to exchange information about the month we've gotten, do you want to come along?" Chu Yue sent an invitation to Asuna.

"Hey! Chu Yue! Kirito immediately said, wanting to stop Chu Yue, after all, a person he just met, he didn't know if he was trustworthy.

Asuna also sensed that something was wrong, and politely refused: "I have other things, so I won't be with you." ”

"Hmm." Chu Yue nodded, "Then, see you in the evening." ”

"Huh?" Asuna was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Chu Yue meant, but she didn't say anything and left directly.

"Why, see you in the evening?" Kirito asked Asuna's question.

"She's stupid, you're stupid too......" Chu Yue said helplessly, "I'm going to fight the boss tomorrow, and there must be a party tonight." ”

"Hara, so it is...... Kirito Khan......

After separating from Asuna, Chu Yue and Kirito went to the hotel together.

The reason why I went to the hostel...... Don't think crookedly, because when you have a conversation in a hotel room, the system will automatically protect you. Unless it is a high-level [eavesdropping] skill, it is impossible to hear the conversation of the people in the hotel room at all.

"It's been a month......" Kirito stood at the window of the inn room, looking out of the inn at the bustling street.

"Yes...... Chu Yue said as he sat on the bed in the hotel, "stupid guys, and guys who are not suitable for this game, should be almost dead." ”

"......" Kirito was silent for a moment. He originally wanted to refute Chu Yue, but he didn't have the confidence and reason to refute Chu Yue.

After all, "Hope" is the best answer Chu Yue gave to players.

"By the way, have you been estranged from practice and promotion in the past month?" Chu Yue asked again.

"Of course not." Kirito replied, "There's no contradiction between exploring the game map and leveling up exercises, right?" After all, if you go deep into many unknown regions, you will encounter unknown high-level monsters. ”

"Hmm......" Chu Yue nodded, and suddenly noticed that Kirito's expression was a little wrong, so she laughed: "It seems that something has happened that makes you care about it a lot." ”

Kirito didn't refute it, because he really didn't have Chu Yue's calmness.

Having said that, this guy Chu Yue ...... Kirito stared at Chu Yue and said, "Why has the psychological quality always been so good?" Even if it's me, it's hard to stay calm with so much going on in the game......

And Chu Yue seems to have been completely accustomed to treating this place as the real world......

No, Chu Yue now has not changed much at all from Chu Yue a month ago, so he can't talk about the word "used to", he seems to ...... From the very beginning of playing SAO, I already knew that this kind of thing was going to happen!

"Kirito, Kirito!" Chu Yue's voice dragged Kirito back from his thoughts.

"Ah, I'm sorry." Kirito said with an embarrassed smile and scratching his head.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Chu Yue asked.

"I'm sorry." Kirito apologized.

"Alas......" Chu Yue sighed, "I said, let's summarize the area we have explored and the current large map of the first layer of Aingrant, and expand the map information." ”

"yes, okay." Kirito nodded, swiped through the system menu, and took out the map of the first layer of Ayn Grant from the inventory.

Probably not...... Kirito thought to himself, how could anyone know about such a thing in advance? Chu Yue's appearance is probably because of Chu Yue's personality...... Or maybe he will release his emotions when no one is around.

What Kirito didn't notice was that when Chu Yue also took out the large map of the first layer of Ayn Grant from the inventory inventory, the corners of his mouth rose slightly.

After exchanging information between Chu Yue and Kirito, the two finally came to the conclusion:

The two of them have only searched half of the area on the first floor of Ayn Grant in the past month. The remaining half of the area should not have been visited by anyone yet.

"No wonder we can't find the boss on the first floor." Chu Yue took the large map back into the inventory and said, "The map is too big. ”

"yes. It's something that can't be helped. Kirito also said helplessly.

Although the 100 floors of Ayn Grant are smaller than the first, the decrease is not large, and even if all players go to the top floor to live now, they will not feel crowded.

……

Night is coming.

Sword Art Online is set in an alternate world, with architecture similar to the Western Middle Ages, but the daily necessities are full of modern flavors.

As soon as the sun goes down, the oil lamps made of special fuel on the streets of the town automatically turn on. It's not as bright as the electric lights, but it's still able to illuminate the wide streets.

Moreover, in the central square of the town, there is also a small fountain, and there are special sky-blue oil lamps in the fountain, which makes the central square look particularly gentle under the backdrop of the lights.

Tomorrow is about to face the boss of the first layer, so the thirty or so players who participated in tomorrow's boss battle spontaneously formed a banquet.

Everyone gathered around the fountain in the central square with the fine wine they had bought from the tavern to drink and chat together.

Orange lights, blue fountains, and green grass, all kinds of NPCs in strange costumes around, such a magical world makes men at this time feel a kind of romance - a kind of romance that belongs to men.

Because it was a spontaneous banquet, there were no invitations. In an alley not far from the central square, although sparsely populated, it can still be illuminated by oil lamps.

The woman in the dark red cloak sat alone, nibbling on the chewy bread she had bought from the system store.

"Oh? I didn't expect to meet a companion here. Suddenly, a man's voice came from the other side.

Asuna tilted her head and noticed the two men who were teaming up with her during the day.

"Good evening, Asuna." Chu Yue said to Asuna.

"Excuse me." Kirito also said.

"......" Asuna ignored the two men and turned back to bite her own bread.

"It's cold." Chu Yue walked up to Asuna and said, "Is this Asuna's attitude towards her companions?" ”

"No......," Asuna said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Not a companion." Asuna continued, "It's just teammates...... Not a companion. ”

"Hahaha, aren't they all the same?" Chu Yue laughed.

"I'm sorry, this guy is like this, a little ...... Self-cooked. Kirito smiled at Asuna and said, "Can we sit here?" ”

Asuna still didn't speak, but she gave way to the two of them.

"Thanks." Both Chu Yue and Kirito sat on Asuna's right.

The two of them also took out the same bread from the system store as Asuna from the inventory, but they also took out other things.

Kirito took out a small white jar, and Chu Yue ...... Took out a bunch of bottles and cans.

"What are these?" Asuna asked curiously.

"Don't ask." Chu Yue pointed to her bread and said, "Just use one and take a look." ”

"......" Asuna put her hand on one of the jars with some curiosity, and then there was a red ball of light on her finger.

Asuna could feel something attached to her fingers.

The red ball of light on his finger pressed lightly on the bread, and a red object was squeezed on the bread.

"This is...... Ketchup? Asuna said with some surprise.

"There are also 'Thousand Island Sauce', 'Caviar', 'Cream', oh yes, and this, this is my homemade, our hometown's specialty! It's called 'Old Godmother'! ”

Asuna was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.

"What's that name, hehehehe......"

"I was surprised at first." Kirito on the other side also said, "However, it tastes surprisingly good." ”

"Really? Which bottle ......?" Asuna was halfway through her words, but suddenly fell silent again, and as if she had thought of something, she continued to eat her bread.

"What's wrong?" Kirito, who noticed Asuna's change, asked.

"I guess I remembered something in the real world." Chu Yue said indifferently while eating bread with a bunch of seasonings.

Unexpectedly, as soon as this sentence was said, Asuna looked at Chu Yue in surprise. Obviously, it was Chu Yue who said it.

"If you want it...... Chu Yue took another bite of bread and continued, "When we return to the real world, I'll give you some." ”

"Come back, the real world ......," Asuna said softly.

"Hmm." Chu Yue nodded and ate the last bit of bread, "Although it may take a little longer, but ......"

Chu Yue stood up.

"Will definitely come back to the real world."

Asuna and Kirito looked at Chu Yue who stood up, and they were stunned for a moment.

"Hmm!" Asuna nodded heavily.

"Hmm!" Kirito also nodded seriously.

December 3, 2022.

The first level of Al Ayn Grant, a forest area.

Several teams preparing for the boss battle walked together in the forest, led by Tilberu, towards the boss room.

Because Chu Yue's team only has three people, the assigned task is to contain the monsters summoned by the boss, destroy the kobold guards, and let the main team attack.

After being assigned the task, Chu Yue, Kirito, and Asuna began to discuss the battle plan.

"One person is blocking, and while the monster is attacking stun, the other two are attacking." Chu Yue said.

"Well, that's what I thought too." Kirito said, "However, the person who is blocking must have enough skills, otherwise it will be dangerous." ”

"Leave this to me with confidence." Chu Yue said, "I am still very confident in my skills. ”

"Hmm." Kirito didn't shirk either, and nodded, "Then, when Chu Yue is blocking, Asuna, you and I will quickly [exchange] to attack." ”

"What does [exchange] mean?" Asuna asked.

Chu Yue and Kirito were speechless for a while, and then Chu Yue said, "Forget it, Asuna still don't carry out the [exchange] attack first, first take a look at our cooperation on the side, understand what is going on, and then join the battle." ”

"Well, that's fine." Kirito nodded.

"Hmm...... only Asuna seemed not very happy with the arrangement, "I'm just watching?" ”

"Of course not." Chu Yue said, "Asuna is the most important support role, if one of Kirito and I don't do a good job, it will cause both of them to be in trouble." That's where Asuna comes to our back. Otherwise, we could all be killed! ”

Asuna suddenly sensed the importance of her task and nodded quite seriously.

Finally at the door of the boss's room, Tilberu stuck his sword on the ground and said to everyone, "Listen to me, I have only one thing to say." ”

"Let's win!" Tilberu said.

The simple and powerful words made everyone nod in unison, and then, Tilberu turned around and pushed open the door to the boss's room.

The boss was originally sitting on a seat, and there was no light in the room at all. However, as everyone enters the room, the boss hatred is ignited, and the boss room is activated, and the entire room lights up from the floor to the walls and ceiling.

The boss has its name and four health bars on its forehead. At the same time, the ugly monster also summoned three of its own guard mobs, and then rushed towards the players together.

"Start attacking!" Tilberu, as the commander, pointed his sword in front and shouted loudly.

The three squads contain the three mobs summoned by the boss, and the remaining few large teams attack the boss.

Tilberu, as the commander, did not personally participate in the battle, but observed the attack movements of the boss and the boss guards in the back, and made corresponding command arrangements.

It has to be said that Tilberu is indeed a good leader. Under his command, the boss battle proceeded in an orderly manner.

In Chu Yue's team, Chu Yue used sword skills to block the attack of the boss guard, and then Kirito and Chu Yue quickly switched positions, and Kirito attacked.

Although it is the first time to cooperate, there is naturally a tacit understanding between the two masters.

"Okay, it's amazing......" On the other side, Asuna, who watched Chu Yue and Kirito cooperate in an attack, couldn't help but say.

Because Chu Yue and Kirito are both top players in Sword Art Online, there were no mistakes at all when cooperating with attacks, and the performance of the other teams was not bad, and the battle soon entered a climax.

What is or is it the climax of the battle? Of course, it's when the boss is red-blooded.

When the last health bar is left, the boss seems to sense the danger and suddenly throws away his axe and round shield.

However, this information is available in the Guidebook, and players are not surprised.

"Stand back!" However, it was at this time that Tilberu, who was the commander, suddenly rushed forward: "Let me come!" ”

"Here...... Shouldn't everyone be around together? Kirito asked.

"Hmm......" Chu Yue nodded, and then said, "Kirito, do you remember the death setting of the boss in Sword Art Online?" ”

Kirito was stunned for a moment, and suddenly understood.

Whoever deals the final blow to the boss can be rewarded with a rare item directly.

However, at this moment, the boss pulls out a weapon from behind that the players have never seen.

It's not a curved knife like the one described in the Instruction Manual, but a wild knife.

Kirito immediately looked at Chu Yue.

"Sure enough." Chu Yue had expected it for a long time, but it seemed that she was not ready to do anything at all.

"No way!" Seeing that he couldn't count on Chu Yue, Kirito hurriedly shouted at Tilberu: "Don't rush anymore!" Jump backwards with all your might!! ”

Players are wondering who shouted this, the boss has suddenly jumped to the pillar next to him, and bounced a few times between several pillars, and Tilberu couldn't see the movement clearly, let alone attack.

In the end, the boss suddenly rushed down towards Tilberu and slashed at Tilberu.

This is the first skill attack after the boss's red blood! If this damage doesn't kill a player in seconds, then it's not a boss.

"Tilberu!" The players immediately shouted worriedly, but before they could do anything, the boss had already jumped into the middle of the crowd again.

"Tilberu!" Kirito hurriedly ran to Tilberu's side, picked him up, and took out his own potion.

It's a pity that Tilberu's HP is already zero, but there will be a short animation of the drop in HP. During this time, the player is in a state of [Frequent Death].

Kirito went to save Tilberu, but Chu Yue didn't.

Asuna, who was on the side, walked up to Chu Yue and asked, "Do you know the boss's attack method?" ”