Chapter 42: Meeting

In the 2nd Floor, knives can be seen flying on its own as they harassed the 2nd Floor mob, a small rabbit.

Its eyes glinted with a red color as it tried to rush to Shiro, but every time it is about to reach him, he suddenly dodges it by a small margin. After repeating the same spectacle for one more time, the rabbit died as it turned into blue fragments and disappeared.

Shiro cancelled his [Projection], making the knives disappear.

A status prompt appeared in front of him, informing of the Cor (this game's currency), Exp, and the items that he received upon killing it.

"It's... meat?"

One of the items that he got is [Uncooked Meat]. In the 1st floor, he killed hundreds of wolves and levelled up to 3, but all he got are some wolf fangs and wolf fur. There's a dagger as well, but its quality is much worse than his other weapons stored in the "Library of the End".

Though, he still equipped it in his waist just for emergency.

Shiro called out the Chat Group panel, only to see that it can be used in this mission--a sign that every participant had arrived. With this, he went back to Urbus, the main city on the 2nd Floor.

All in all, it looked like what a city would in the middle ages. Well, except for the fact that it's very clean and incorporates some modern designs into the city, making it look like a mix of modern and medieval ages.

As he walked on the streets, he could see people talking leisurely. Some are looking at NPC-operated stores to buy better gear, while the others discussed about trades between their in-game items. Things might look optimistic to others, but not for Shiro.

When he grinded earlier, he found out that a few months had passed since Sword Art Online was released. Right now, the frontline forces are clearing the 26th Floor. He also found out that clearing floors used to be much faster before, around 7~10 days per labyrinth cleared.

However, this changed during the 25th Floor as the usual mobbing strategy of the "Aincrad Liberation Squad", the guild that has the most Aincrad players out of there.

"We need to step up our game if things are like this. Reaching Level 35 is more imminent..." He thought as he remembered that his farming strategy won't work for others. "Attack patterns, reaction speed, and spawn rates. Efficiency it is..."

As to why it wouldn't work? During the Blank Template creation, what was brought back to the start is his basic stats, namely: Physique, Dexterity, and Mana/Aura. As for his Wisdom (Thought Processing), Luck, Control (Physical, Mental, Magic, etc), Charm, and Willpower...

They are mostly untouched, making him the one with the biggest advantage out of everyone in Aincrad right now.

*****

Ding-!

The bell attached to the door rang, indicating the arrival of a new customer. The customer looked towards one of the bigger tables in the cafe, only to see seven other players--no, Chat Group members gather.

Taking off his "Concealment Mask" and hood, Shiro greeted them.

"Yo~!"

"Shiro-aniki!"

The one that greeted him most enthusiastically is none other than Shinji.

"You're finally here..."

"Sorry, I got too carried away earlier." Shiro replied to Kal'tsit as he sat besides Romani. "Short time no see."

"Well, bonjour."

"...You've really learned how to speak in French? For the France singularity?"

"Not really, and I'm sure that they can always settle things peacefully with the back of their blade."

"You mean, shield..?"

Shiro laughed it off for a bit before doing his part in this meeting--giving away information.

"Ahem. Before I start, how are you, Asada-san?"

"Ah-uhm, me? I'm alright." She responded as if she had just snapped out of her stupor. The members all saw this and only sighed.

"It's not the first time that this happened."

"Shiro-san's charm is too dangerous for men and women alike."

Romani and Touka commented on the sidelines while Shinji wore a look of "As expected of Shiro-aniki!" while nodding his head. As for Kal'tsit and Kouzuki, they kept their expressionless face due to them being used to it.

In the lounge, the one that Shiro meets the most are Shinji, Romani, and Kouzuki--the former being his student while the latter two are the people that he talks the most when it comes to exchanging knowledge.

Sure, he might not need knowledge regarding modern physics right now, but seeking for more knowledge is one of the urges that he can't resist. Knowing other's viewpoint in his magic system is helpful too, especially Romani's.

"I've surveyed the first five floors and got their complete minimap..." He did the motion of opening the main menu and sent friend requests to them. Surprisingly, their name didn't change from their names in the Chat Group, making it easier for him to add them.

Prompts popped up consecutively in front of them before accepting the request. A moment later, they were sent with the complete minimap for the first five floors--except the map of the labyrinth due to how it disappears once cleared.

There's also some marks of a dungeon that can be farmed infinitely, making it famous for lower-levelled players who couldn't get out of the town before.

"Dungeons? I want to visit one!" Kuroneko imagined the dark and creepy hallways filled with traps and monster. This is one of the things that she likes the most!

"There's actually one just right below this town."

"Right! The one filled with frogs!"

"...Frogs?" Shino asked with a look of... disgust. She'd only read the parts of Volume 3~4, which is where her story was written. As for Volume 1~2 and the further volumes (5~26), she hadn't read it yet.

It is definitely a surreal experience, seeing your entire life written for others to see, but she soon came to terms with it. After all, she's not the only one who had experienced it.

"Yup, frogs and a grim reaper."

"What a peculiar combination..." Romani recalled some of the peculiar people that even he cannot comprehend.

"People like Da Vinci and 'Merlin' might understand it based on their tastes."

Shiro made sure to emphasize on the "Merlin" part, confusing Romani greatly. He got a very bad feeling out of it, but chose to set it aside for now.

Their talks went on until they separated to level up and gain some Cor, the in-game currency. They had it easy due to their abilities that they brought here, thus they all leveled up with an average of 2~3 times before the day ended.

As for Shiro, he solo'ed some dungeons, allowing him to reach level 7 by the end of the day.

The group rented out an entire inn to have a place to stay at for a couple of weeks. Thanks to the Teleport Points in the plazas each floor, they can return to the 1st floor easily.

Farming, grinding, getting together... A week passed by in this manner.

*****

A/N: Alright, I'm done setting up with the foundation in Aincrad arc. Since the original players took 2 years to clear the first 75th floors, this might be a long arc. The stuff in Progressive might not be mentioned here (Progressive is only up to the 8th Floor for now). Anyways, this gave me some nostalgia as it reminded me of Memory Defrag which is sadly gone now. Some mechanics of that game will be incorporated here since there's some game mechanics that aren't explained much in Sword Art Online.

If you're wondering as to when they got transported, it is somewhere between March 2023~June 2023 (Yuuki's first Medicuboid test ~ the death of Sachi and her guild).

Fact #2: The main reason why Tomimi admires Gavial greatly is due to the latter saving her in an originum mine, saving her from Oripathy (Rock Cancer). However, Gavial caught it, causing her to blame herself due to this. It's also one of the main reasons why Gavial left as she knew the importance of treating oripathy since she has one herself. Seeing this, Tomimi became Gavial's die-hard fan and supporter. Gavial being kind to her even after all that is also one of the main contributors to this.

Happy reading~!