⌜Chapter 21⌟

Mingling was very easy, Tanaka only pretended to be a new player that just climbed onto the floor and introduced himself to them, but of course, there was someone who was doubting him.

The kids were fine, they were very friendly and they got along very well, except for a little wariness that's it, except for Kirito who was looking at him with doubt not believing how Tanaka introduced himself.

Anyway, the kids guild is called the Moonlit Black Cats, a cool name for a guild if Tanaka thinks so, there are few members including Kirito, their guild leader was a guy called Keita.

If Tanaka remembers correctly, he was one of the last surviving members of their guild and killed himself by jumping off from the tower.

In this timeline, Kirito still smiles a lot, but he was on guard about Tanaka's presence, Tanaka smiled as he saw this, and decided to spook Kirito, thinking that he had a plan later.

To earn this guild's trust, Tanaka acted like a good guy who was cheering at them from the backline as they grind levels, of course, he didn't join their party, if he did then his cover will be blown, in his case, he was just in the back learning from them(Acting).

It took them almost a whole day to finish hunting and go home but this time, they invited Tanaka to their guild base, and what he meant by their guild base was an inn that they used as their headquarters.

"Hey! Ice! join us at our celebration! we hunted a lot of monsters today!"

Ducker the energetic guy of the group invited Tanaka, and yes, Tanaka introduced himself as 'Iceinmyveins' or Ice for short, Tanaka of course joined, and also as the richest guy, he treated them with a reason saying he was also a merchant.

While they were celebrating, Tanaka decided to go outside and have a stroll, but he noticed from the corner of his eye that Kirito was following him, just like what he wanted, but he didn't want to make it noticeable.

So while strolling around, Tanaka stopped on some stalls and looked at their wares, he also bought some food on the way, and he noticed that Kirito was still following him, sometimes hiding when Tanaka was turning around.

Looking at the time, Tanaka spent almost 30 minutes strolling around the town, Kirito is a very patient man, and Tanaka could not help but chuckle, anyway, he now had enough playing, turning into the corner alley, Kirito immediately followed him.

But when Kirito reached the alley, Tanaka could not be seen anywhere, he can only see a dark pitch alley, gritting his teeth, he immediately followed towards the dark alley and quietly searched for Tanaka.

"Nice, you really followed me, did you know that curiosity killed the cat?"

Just as Kirito was looking around, he heard a voice coming from his back, and he immediately jumped away like a cat that has its tail stepped on.

"What can I do for you, Mister. Kirito?"

Tanaka asked as he looked at Kirito who had his hands on his weapons.

"I want to know what is your purpose"

"My purpose? nothing really, I just want to join the fun looking guild"

"Join? you are far more powerful than them, don't dare hide it from me, I can tell from your equipment"

"Ah, I guess I got found out, but I'm not lying, I don't mean no harm"

"How can we know? there is a chance that you are from the laughing coffins guild"

"Laughing Coffin? impossible, those guys run away just seeing me, if you really want to know who I am"

*Ding!

[You have been invited to a party]

Kirito looked at the invitation in front of him and hesitated for a bit before accepting, when he joined the party, Kirito immediately looked at the top corner of his eyes where the names of the party could be seen.

And the moment he saw the name, he immediately froze, his eyes were shaking and his breathing became abrupt, he was very scared right now.

A name that has disappeared for a long time, a legend they have thought had left, a name that gave fear and shook the whole Aincrad.

"Madara!"

Kirito exclaimed in shock, forget about the laughing coffins, this man is the scariest thing in the whole SAO, he was very scared, but he can't back out because his guild was also in danger.

Calming himself and taking a deep breath, he faced Tanaka.

"What do you want from our guild?"

"I said nothing, I just want to join in the fun"

"I don't believe you!"

Tanaka stopped talking and turned to Kirito looking at him in the eye.

"Don't make me repeat myself"

Tanaka just said in a low voice but enough to be heard by Kirito, he froze when he heard that, looking at Kirito for the last time, Tanaka turned around and left, leaving the frozen in fear Kirito.

Tanaka left their party and went back to the Moonlit Black Cats guild, if he was right, this guild will find the secret room tomorrow, since they plan to enter the labyrinth tomorrow.

Knowing this, Tanaka let them know that he would join, the place they were going to go is not really a secret room but a trap room, and what is the reason for him to go there?

Tanaka had found many things about SAO Aincrad, the more dangerous the monster is, the higher its reward, in another word it's called High-Risk High Return, and Tanaka plans to see what a trap room has.

The next day, Tanaka noticed that nothing changed towards the group except Kirito who was still wary and scared of him, it seems like he did not tell the guild about his identity which made Tanaka praise Kirito.

Everyone prepared for their adventure and after everyone was ready they made their way towards the labyrinth, on their way, Tanaka appreciated the girl named Sachi, she was a little scaredy-cat but she is always worried about her friends.

She is cautious about everything around her letting her perceive small details, a very reliable player when fighting, players tend to be reckless and greedy, she has control over herself and takes precautions when they do something.

It makes Tanaka wonder again how they were trapped in the trap room.

*Ting!

Tanaka noticed the ground below them was glowing.

"Oh, so it was forced!"

he thought

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sorry for the late chappy, I went out to get vaccinated.

Quotes:

"People tend to show off their act of kindness. It is not an act of good will, it is a demand because they are expecting a word of grace as a reward."