Chapter 64: Changed Trajectory

"A-aniki?! It's not like that!"

Startled, Shinji immediately refuted his words.

"We cleared a dungeon to revive Silica's pet!"

"That's right, Shiro-san." She bowed slightly as a greeting.

"Like, I've told you before, there's no need for formalities. You're Shinji-kun's friend, y'know?"

"...Alright then, Shiro-san." She nodded as if she understood, but she didn't fully stop calling him without formalities. He's much older than her, which is why this level of formality is needed.

(A/N: Japanese culture. You don't see the neighbor's child calling his friend's parents in a casual way in Japan.)

Seeing this, Shiro could only give up. He knew that different places has different cultures, and it's his responsibility as a foreigner to respect other people.

"Looks like I've taken some of your alone time. I'll be leaving for now, so enjoy your date!"

"It's really not like that..."

As Shiro left, he heard Shinji mumble those words helplessly.

In fact, he's only teasing them since Shinji's not even 10 yet. To him, it looks like a puppy love. Only time will tell if their relationship steps up.

Looking at the field of flowers as he strolled, he is inadvertently reminded of a certain internet idol.

'That was an awesome twist, I admit.'

At first, that internet idol, also known as Magi☆Mari, was actually created by Roman himself. As an A.I., she is programmed to reply to Roman whenever he's chatting. Since it's his own work anyways, he told it most of his secrets, such as him being Solomon and that humanity is facing a massive crisis.

It's quite similar as to how he reduces the pressure that he's facing by telling some trusted individuals of his duty.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain Magus of Flowers took over when it was created, turning it into a true internet idol. That's also the reason why the idol's appearance looked eerily similar to Prototype Merlin, someone who is another version of Merlin in another world line.

If Roman, someone who only has "Virtual Idols" and dislikes true idols, knew of this, he would definitely cry. Moreover, he's actually talking to a man the entire time!

That's double the damage!

"I laughed so hard at that time, but the final singularity sure is a mood breaker."

Removing such depressing thoughts inside his mind, he headed towards a certain area in the 47th floor. After walking for half an hour, he "luckily" got it as a drop from some plant-type monsters.

"Good. Time to head back." He mumbled as he placed the pink flower with a golden nectar in his inventory. A teleport crystal appeared in his hand before he disappeared on spot.

Not long after, Shiro arrived at the Town of Beginnings. After stopping at a certain manor, a window appeared in front of him, asking whether he would like to enter the premise or not.

Clicking yes, the black iron gate opened on its own.

Clang-! Clang-!

"I'll definitely beat you today!"

"Haha, keep trying."

Two players clashed, creating small sparks as their weapons clashed. One of them used a mace and a kite shield, while the other wielded a black dagger.

None of them landed any hits as of the moment due to them skillfully blocking and avoiding each other's attacks.

Surprisingly, the dagger player managed to evade every single blows of the mace player. Utilizing his high AGI as a thief build, he soon sliced through the gaps of the latter. When his HP depleted to more than half, the duel concluded.

"It's Ducker's 99th win!"

The referee, who is also their guild leader, declared while he wrote down the duel's results in his notebook.

"Kuh..! My low AGI stat..!" The mace player, Tetsuo, blamed his 99th loss on his low AGI stat.

Having the role of a forward (i.e., tanker), his build is tilted towards STR and VIT. Meanwhile, Ducker is a AGI build due to the nature of his role. Not only is he a thief, but he's also the one responsible for disarming traps and scouting ahead of the party.

"I'll definitely have my win soon!"

"Sure, good luck for you!" Ducker playfully replied with a grin present on his face.

Soon enough, Tetsuo calmed down. He knew that his friend is just playing around with him, so this didn't matter much to him. At most, he lost a few bragging rights.

The stronger his teammates, the more likely they would survive, after all.

"I suggest you try practicing your intuition more."

Suddenly, a clear voice rang out from the front yard.

"Shiro-san!"

"Yo, Shiro!"

Shiro took off his hood, which is part of the black robe, revealing his peerless appearance that would captivate virtually anyone. Up to this day, nobody could stand the impact of seeing his charm for the first time.

Even though most of the people close to him can build up resistance against it, it still takes effect.

Ducker is the one who broke the silence between them.

"Man, you would've been extremely popular back in school!"

"You mentioned this about fifty times now."

"But still... Imagine your lockers being filled with love letters every day! That's literally every man's high school dream!"

Shiro paused for a while before replying, "Sounds troublesome."

"And I'm willing to go through all that trouble."

"School, huh."

He thought about attending one and guessed that it might be quite an interesting experience for him.

'There's one in Kouzuki's world, right? Maybe, the Chat Group would give us that mission, too.' He thought.

"Good morning, Shiro-san."

"You too, Keita-kun."

Keita, their guild leader, greeted him. He's an optimistic yet decisive young man, making decisions that would only benefit his guild. Shiro admired this trait of his since they would've had the chance to survive since he can rein them.

If he's there during the time they saw that treasure chest, they wouldn't have died in such a tragic way.

"Ah, right. How's being a clearer?"

"It's not that bad. To be honest, I feel closer towards my goal after joining them." He replied with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Just like any other player, he longed for SAO to be cleared immediately. Though, he decided to put things in his own hands since he felt more at ease if he's contributing to his goal himself.

It just didn't sit well for him to wait for others to clear the upper floors themselves.

What if more casualties occur? What if things become harder as a result of that? What if the player count drop to the point that it becomes impossible to clear all 100 floors? What if What if they get trapped inside SAO forever?

He couldn't help but be pessimistic and think about those in the past.

At this moment, a girl rushed to the door before opening it and said, "Shiro-san is here?!"

*****

A/N: Sao-related fact this time~!

Fact #22: Did you know that in the original Sword Art Online light novel and web novel, Sachi is Kirito's first love interest? However, this got retconned by Reki Kawahara by putting in Progressive. Due to that, Asuna became Kirito's first love. With this, we can see that Sachi will be friend-zoned by Kirito if she ever survived in the anime. Not only her tho, but every other girl with the exception of Asuna.

PS: The illusion of harem in SAO, everyone!