-1702- Trust me

In the guild, Rozen was immediately bombarded with criticism from everyone.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!" Leafa exclaimed angrily, "Why did you act so recklessly!?"

"Exactly!" Silica added, puffing her cheeks. "That's a life-threatening incident! It's really dangerous, Rozen-nii!"

The two little sister figures were the first to confront Rozen, who was calmly sitting at the bar counter.

Then…

"What were you even thinking?" Kirito sighed.

"Too rash, damn it!" Klein shouted in frustration.

"I'm not helping you this time," Agil said with an exasperated look.

Even Lis and Sachi chimed in.

"Honestly, men are always like this, doing scary things without a word," Lis complained irritably.

"Guild Leader, are you really going to take on that request?" Sachi asked, concern etched on her face.

Both seemed shocked by Rozen's sudden decision.

Even Asuna couldn't hide her worried expression.

"Are you really going to investigate Death Gun?" she asked, anxiety filling her voice.

Asuna had to be concerned.

After all, Death Gun was a presence capable of killing people in the game, and no one knew what kind of methods he had. Even if it was Rozen, recklessly approaching such an individual wasn't without risk.

Asuna had assumed that Rozen would merely gather information about Death Gun and conduct some analysis. But to her shock, Rozen had directly accepted Kikuoka Seijirou's request.

This meant Rozen was going to personally confront Death Gun in GGO.

That was far too dangerous!

However, Rozen simply smiled.

"I didn't think much of Death Gun at first, but seeing all of your reactions, I've realized that this situation really needs to be dealt with."

Rozen made his stance clear.

Investigating Death Gun was originally an optional task for Rozen.

As mentioned earlier, if Kikuoka Seijirou had offered conditions enticing enough to Rozen, he wouldn't have hesitated to take action.

This was simply a transactional relationship between Rozen and Kikuoka—purely business, as he had reiterated numerous times.

Thus, Rozen wouldn't arbitrarily break that principle without good reason.

In other words, it wasn't that Kikuoka hadn't proposed worthwhile terms, but Rozen simply hadn't been inclined to intervene.

But now things were different.

"Seeing your reactions made me realize that I overlooked the impact Death Gun has on former SAO players and others."

Rozen spoke matter-of-factly.

Because Death Gun could kill people in the virtual world, leading to real-world deaths, Rozen confidently declared it impossible. But even if others believed him, the unease couldn't be entirely dispelled.

Especially among former SAO players, this situation evoked deep psychological scars. Hearing about it naturally stirred unresolved trauma.

If Death Gun's actions escalated and all players became aware, not only would VR games face renewed criticism, but former SAO players would also have their wounds reopened.

Under these circumstances, Rozen couldn't ignore it.

"After all, you're my friends, and there are so many former SAO players in my guild now. If something happens to my subordinates, how could I just sit back and do nothing?"

Rozen shrugged.

"So, I might as well handle this."

Rozen's task was to expose Death Gun's methods, proving to everyone that killing people from the virtual world was no longer possible.

This would put everyone at ease, especially the former SAO players and his guildmates.

Rozen had made his decision.

"Today's raid will be postponed for now."

Rozen decisively declared.

"I'll organize everything and transfer my ALO character to GGO to look around."

Thanks to the VRMMO development support program The Seed, players could now freely transfer characters between different virtual worlds. This had been mentioned before.

Since both ALO and GGO were created using The Seed, Rozen could use this character transfer feature to directly migrate his ALO character's stats and abilities into GGO.

Upon transferring, the character's power level would remain consistent, even if the parameter systems differed between the two worlds. Converted values would balance out accordingly without compromising the character's strength.

For example, if Rozen had cultivated a character with 100 Strength and 100 Agility in ALO, the conversion would yield a GGO character with 50 STR and 50 AGI, reflecting the same overall power despite numerical differences.

This mechanism was highly convenient, allowing seamless exploration of various VR games while focusing on a single character. Players didn't need to start over, and their character remained strong in new worlds.

However, this wasn't a decision to be made lightly.

"Once you transfer to GGO, what about your assets in ALO?" Asuna asked with concern.

The character transfer feature didn't duplicate character data. Once transferred, the original character in the previous world would be permanently erased.

In other words, after Rozen transferred his character to GGO, his ALO character would vanish.

Moreover, only the character itself could be transferred—equipment, items, and currency wouldn't carry over. Players had to accept the complete loss of all possessions.

Even worse, players like Rozen and Silica, who had *Beast Vassals*, would lose their familiars entirely after transferring.

It was a significant sacrifice.

Rozen had considered this carefully.

Thus…

"Before transferring, I'll hand over all my equipment, items, and currency to you, Asuna. Please hold onto them for me," Rozen said with a smile.

Then, he turned to Silica and gently patted her head.

"As for Saichou and Hanachou, I'll entrust them to you, Silica."

By transferring ownership of his *Beast Vassals* to Silica, Rozen ensured their data wouldn't be deleted.

"Once I've resolved *Death Gun's* case, I'll transfer back immediately. You can return my items then, and I won't suffer any losses."

Rozen had it all planned out.

"But… but…"

Everyone still seemed hesitant to let him go.

However, Rozen quelled all their doubts.

"Relax. Anyone else might run into trouble, but I absolutely won't."

Rozen glanced around at everyone.

"Just wait here for my good news."

There was a tone of finality in Rozen's voice, leaving no room for argument.

Seeing this, no one pressed further.

Rozen then turned to Yui.

"Yui, could you gather information about GGO for me?"

"Understood, Papa." Yui agreed without hesitation.

At this moment, a hand reached out and grasped Rozen's firmly.

Turning his head, Rozen looked at the person holding his hand.

"Rozen…"

Asuna gazed at him with worried eyes.

"Alright." Rozen patted her head reassuringly. "Trust me."

Hearing this, Asuna looked into Rozen's calm and confident eyes. After a long moment, she exhaled deeply and nodded.

Thus, Rozen decided to transfer to GGO.

An epic encounter awaited him there.