Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

"Let's slow down for now, farm materials while making progress slowly."

Fujimaru Ritsuka confirmed the next steps with the two of them once again.

Upon reaching the tenth tier, the monsters' levels drop to 6. In addition to the continued appearance of lower-level monsters, a new monster called the "Ruins Kobold Soldier," wielding a long spear, will appear.

If it's just a single monster, it's fine, but if you accidentally provoke other kobolds at the same time, the trouble level will increase significantly due to the long attack range of the spear.

After Kirito shared the information from the closed beta, they discussed their general strategy before slowly beginning their exploration of the tenth tier.

However, before the three could venture deeper, they suddenly heard the sounds of intense weapon clashes and the shouts of players and monsters mixed together ahead.

It sounds like a multi-player squad like theirs.

But at the same time, they also heard the roars of more than one monster, which made them feel that something was wrong.

So they quickly approached the source of the sound and soon saw a player team fighting against several monsters.

Having attracted an unusually large number of monsters, the player squad in front of them was now in complete disarray, fighting individually and with no organization whatsoever.

If this continues, there's no guarantee that there won't be casualties.

So the three of them exchanged glances, decisively drew their weapons, and chose to join the battle.

"Hang in there, we're here to help!"

I'm coming!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 153. A Monster Possessing Intelligence?

153.

2023-12-02

"They survived."

With the help of the three, the monster was quickly eliminated. The captain of the opposing team was panting heavily, as if he had survived a disaster, and his expression was still somewhat frightened.

After calming down a bit, he looked at the three people who had come to his aid.

The other party was wearing a uniform gray cloak, making it impossible to see their face underneath, which gave people a strange feeling of suspicion.

But remembering that they had just saved their lives, he didn't think much of it and expressed his gratitude to the three of them:

"Thank you so much for your support, otherwise we might have collapsed here!"

Fujimaru Ritsuka subconsciously smiled and replied:

"It's okay, I think even if other people were in this situation, they would help."

"!?"

However, upon hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's voice, the captain suddenly paused.

The girl's voice is actually that of a female gamer?

A female player, or perhaps a spear user or a rapier user?

At the same time, Kirito, who was standing behind Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna, suddenly realized something was wrong and thought to himself that something was amiss.

Oh no, we should let him speak!

Now we're exposed!

Not only the captain, but also his team members realized what was happening.

The atmosphere of relief instantly dissipated, and the team members involuntarily became somewhat tense and excited, looking curiously at Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna, wanting to find out what was under their cloaks.

In fact, this team of players had seen the two figures from afar in the wild before, but this was the first time they had come into such close contact.

Just as rumored, he was very helpful.

To their dismay, the two girls inexplicably chose to wear cloaks, concealing their faces.

It's quite disheartening to be able to see the two of them so close yet still not be able to appreciate their adorable faces.

另外

The group couldn't help but look at Kirito behind Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna, their eyes full of curiosity. They had never heard of the existence of a third member.

"."

Despite feeling uneasy, Kirito tried his best to play the role of a wooden figure, remaining unmoved by all the changes in the outside world, as if he knew nothing.

Finally, Fujimaru Ritsuka spoke again, drawing everyone's attention.

"If I may ask, how did you all end up like that just now?"

This isn't about reopening their wounds, but about gathering intelligence to prevent them from repeating the same mistakes.

Upon hearing Fujimaru Ritsuka's question, the opposing captain smiled wryly:

"We didn't notice the monster lurking in the corner and were caught off guard."

The location where the monsters they encountered this time were hiding was extremely insidious. It wasn't that they were particularly well-hidden, but rather that there was a roaming kobold with a long spear on the path where they were hiding.

Therefore, their attention was focused on the spear-wielding kobolds, but they didn't expect that several more monsters would rush out from the side during the battle, immediately scattering their group.

The three nodded in understanding after listening, and kept this information in mind.

"in addition."

At that moment, the captain hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped. After thinking about it, he finally decided to speak.

He said with a solemn expression:

"It might just be my imagination, but I always feel that the monsters at this level are smarter, more insidious, and more ferocious than those below them."

"It's as if they're deliberately targeting the players."

"."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere among everyone instantly fell silent.

The other party's statement was as if they were saying that the monsters in these mazes seemed to have gained intelligence and become real monsters, which sent chills down one's spine.

However, the other person quickly scratched their head and smiled somewhat embarrassedly:

"Of course, those feelings I mentioned above are most likely just my wild thoughts. Just listen to them casually and don't take them to heart."

The opposing team members also came to their senses and began to laugh and curse:

"I said, don't tell ghost stories at a time like this, it's really scary!"

"Shouldn't you be telling jokes at this time?"

"You actually scared your savior?! Aren't you repaying kindness with enmity?!"

"You'll have to treat me to dinner when we get back before I'll let you off the hook!"

"Agreed!!"

"Haha, sorry, sorry."

The captain scratched his head apologetically and chuckled awkwardly. The silence quickly dissipated amidst the team members' playful banter, as if nothing had happened.

However, after listening, Fujimaru Ritsuka nodded and replied seriously:

"I understand, thank you for the information. We will take it into consideration."

She didn't doubt what the other person said, because she knew that if BB was behind it all, it would be very easy for him to do something like this.

And BB is very likely to do that as well.

On the other side, seeing how seriously she replied, the captain glanced at her with some surprise, then smiled and said:

"You're welcome. We should be thanking you for saving our lives."

"Then we won't trouble you any further. We wish you good luck in your military endeavors."

"Thank you, too."

So they said goodbye to each other and chose to continue their exploration in different directions.

Immediately afterwards, discussions arose behind them: "Is it really them?", "It's a pity we didn't see their faces clearly?", "Who is the third member?", and eventually the voices gradually faded away.

"call--"

"Survived!"

After completely distancing himself from the other party, Kirito, who had been desperately trying to minimize his presence, finally relaxed and let out a long sigh of relief.

Fujimaru Ritsuka and Asuna looked at him amusedly and said:

"Is it so exaggerated?"

"Of course!"

Kirito said with lingering fear:

"If I had accidentally revealed my true identity just now, even if I wasn't wanted by the entire game, I would probably have suffered social death within the game."

"That was so dangerous!"

Seeing this, the two shook their heads, ignoring the mischievous Kirito. Then, Asuna couldn't help but ask:

Do you think what the captain said is true?

"The monsters are deliberately targeting players as if they actually possess intelligence."

The other party's statement made her feel vaguely uneasy.

Upon hearing this, Kirito quickly regained his composure and, resting his chin on his hand, analyzed:

"It's hard to say whether monsters have truly gained intelligence, but so far, the monsters we've encountered are just like what that guy called BB said—they've simply enhanced their AI capabilities."

"Come to think of it, the other party also seems to claim to be a superior illegal AI."

"However, if a real AI emerges, then it won't just be a problem for the game SAO; the entire real world might be changed."

Asuna nodded. She had also read some science fiction works and knew about the existence of the omnic crisis that was often described in them.

Kirito continued:

"Therefore, based on our current understanding, it is more reasonable to say that the game designers are deliberately targeting the players, rather than the monsters they are referring to."