October 9, 2024.

The weather was gloomy.

In the afternoon, when the players who raided the 75th floor of Al Grant returned to the square, an atmosphere of despair began to spread in Al Grant.

As early as when Akihiko Aoba said the sentence of congratulations on clearing the customs, in order to share the joy in their hearts, many members had already sent this sentence to their friends, and some even filmed the scene with recording crystals.

It is absolutely impossible to hide such exciting news.

When the members of the strategy group sent the message to their friends, their friends sent the message to their friends—

One to ten, ten to hundred.

Soon, the news that the game had been cleared spread throughout Al Grande, and almost all players knew about it.

Of the 6,835 people still alive in the game, more than 6,500 have arrived on the 75th floor of Al Grant to await their hero's triumph.

However, what they were waiting for was the answer that would knock them from heaven into the abyss.

Hope turns to disappointment, then despair.

Just as Xia Qianshi said, the words of the girl named Yui brought them great trouble.

The game has to reach the 100th floor to complete the level, which is a fact that players have long known and gradually accepted.

If this continues, probably no one will have other ideas, and they will still live in this world as they used to be.

But they saw hope; And then reality makes them desperate again, there is nothing more cruel in the world.

Especially after knowing that the boss of the 100th floor is the administrator of this game, many people are extremely pessimistic about whether they can attack the game.

It's like going back to the first month of the game, with pessimism and despair surrounding the player, and quite a few people even having suicidal thoughts again.

It was in such a desperate atmosphere that three days passed slowly.

During this time, Xia Qianshi was simply busy to death, he was the president of the Ayngrant Liberation Army, not only to appease the emotions of the guild leaders, but also to take care of the feelings of the guild bottom, and also to send guild members to patrol to prevent ordinary players from committing suicide.

With great power comes great responsibility, and that's probably what it means.

When night fell, it was already nine o'clock in the evening, and Xia Qianshi and Asuna returned home in the dust.

When he returned home, Xia Qianshi threw himself on the sofa, feeling the soft touch completely enveloping him, and let out a comfortable moan from his mouth.

Although there is no sore hands and feet due to exertion in SAO, mental exhaustion cannot be easily removed.

Asuna is not much better than Xia Qianshi.

Originally, after Xia Qianshi returned to the Irongrant Liberation Army, she also returned to the Irons, but after the death of Akihiko Kayaba, she returned to the Knights of the Blood Alliance as the head of the regiment to preside over the overall situation.

Although it is not as busy as Xia Qianshi, it is already very hard for her as a girl.

After resting for a while, Asuna wanted to cook, but Xia Qianshi didn't agree, he chose to order takeout.

Well, that's right, it's called takeout.

Although there is no mobile phone in SAO, there is a friend communication function, and after adding the owner of the restaurant as a friend, you can order takeout remotely just like in reality.

On the way to wait for the takeaway, Xia Qianshi picked up this afternoon's newspaper again and started reading.

Now that the world is in turmoil, all kinds of big and small things are emerging in an endless stream, and even newspapers have changed from one a day to two a day.

Although the newspapers try to carry some positive news, the message from that news is still heart-wrenching.

For example, what [the Ayn Grant Liberation Army, under the leadership of Lord Xia Qianshi, saved 18 more people who attempted suicide].

Although the results are good, doesn't this also mean that there are many players in the game who have the will to die?

The negative emotions spread throughout Al Grant, not only making some players have a will to live and die, but also distorting the mentality of some players, and the whole person has become irritable.

Now there are still people scolding the Raiders members that day, scolding them for spreading the false news that the game has been cleared.

There are even people who are scolding Xia Qianshi, scolding him for revealing Ashiba Akihiko's identity, and scolding him for why he defeated Kayaba Akihiko, but he couldn't defeat Yui.

It's really a mess in the world, and all the bulls, ghosts, snakes, and gods have run out.

"What a bunch of bastards who don't know how to be grateful!"

Asuna puffed out her cheeks and said indignantly.

Xia Qianshi, who has more experience, naturally doesn't care about this, but Asuna and the other members of the strategy group will inevitably be affected.

They fought with their lives against monsters on the front line, and when they came back, they had to be slandered by this group of people who sat back and enjoyed their success, which was really unbearable!

For this reason, the progress of the strategy has also been affected to a certain extent, just to appease these people, Xia Qianshi wasted a lot of time.

"There's no need to get angry with these people."

Xia Qianshi shook his head, the nearly two years he spent in Ain Grand Tri had made him grow a lot.

In the past, he would probably have to scold Asuna together, but after going through so many things and commanding thousands of players for a year, his vision and way of thinking have matured a lot.

"These people are by nature a selfish and ignorant rabble, who choose only the best option for their own interests because of their selfishness, but because of their ignorance, they are repeatedly deceived by voices with ulterior motives...... They will never be grateful to the people who really pay for them behind their backs, but will only chase the petty profits in front of them like jackals. ”

"Just like now, they have taken our protection for granted, and even if they know the truth of the matter, they will not understand us, they will only complain about why we can't be stronger, they will resent, they will say, we believe in you so much, why can't you save us?"

Shaking his head, Xia Qianshi concluded: "Therefore, it is completely useless to deal with this group of people, let alone lose their enterprising spirit because of them, we just need to tell ourselves that we are not fighting for them, but for the people we cherish." ”

"You make a point." Asuna blinked, "Who are you fighting for?" ”

"You."

"Yikes! You're not ashamed! ”

The shy Asuna was about to be so coquettish, but suddenly heard Xia Qianshi say: "And Kirito, Yuki, Achill, and Liz...... Many, many, many. ”

The girl's face suddenly turned cloudy, and her beautiful cheeks bulged like a bun, but when she raised her head and found Xia Qianshi looking at her with a smile, she knew that she had been tricked.

So the girl pounced, raised her pink fist at him is a beating, after a while, the two hugged each other intimately, and the room was filled with a warm and slightly drunken atmosphere.

In such an atmosphere, Asuna couldn't help but say: "A thousand things, I've already thought about it, let's get married." ”

"Nope."

Xia Qianshi's answer made Asuna's eyes widen, and a tear quietly condensed in her eyes.

Then, she heard Xia Qianshi say:

"That's what I should say."

The bright light shone on Xia Qianshi's handsome face, with a smile on his face, and he spoke softly in a sincere tone.

"Asuna, marry me."

Xia Qianshi felt that he might never forget the most beautiful smile on Asuna's face at this time for the rest of his life.

"Hmmm......"

She nodded quietly, and the tears that had already gathered in her eyes finally slid down her cheeks.