Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

"It's nothing, it's just that this campaign went too smoothly, it feels a little unreal."

"That feeling is definitely there."

Asuna smiled and agreed, then continued:

"But this is also the result of everyone's hard work. Everyone worked hard to improve their skills and levels, and to strengthen their equipment, plus the key information provided by Miss Argo. The reason why we had such an easy ending is because the difficulties were spread out in each step before, right?"

Was she being comforted?

Fujimaru Ritsuka was momentarily speechless, but still nodded with a smile:

"That makes sense. Let's proceed to the third floor."

The third floor is themed around a forest, but it's not your average forest.

In the third layer, the smallest tree has a trunk diameter of one meter and a height of over thirty meters. Looking around, there are towering ancient trees that cannot be described as giant trees, like a forest inhabited by elves in a fantasy world.

Not only the scenery, but even the design style of the main urban area on the third floor, Zmford, is completely different from the first two floors.

It was a town built by three towering trees that stood side by side, each thirty meters in diameter and hundreds of meters high. Apart from the transfer gate plaza in the open space between the three trees and the conference plaza a little further north, most of the town's buildings were hidden inside the three trees, resembling skyscrapers.

While admiring the unique and stunning scenery around them, the group gradually arrived at the central plaza on the third floor. Repeating the process from the second floor, Fujimaru Ritsuka reopened the transfer door and waited quietly.

Soon after, cheers and applause rang out again as ordinary players flooded in.

Third floor, arrived!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 186. As Always, BB Q&A Time

186.

2023-12-20

After the portal opened, unlike the situation where the players in the strategy group immediately scattered after reaching the second floor, some players started to suggest holding a gathering for the strategy group, and this suggestion received a lot of positive responses.

After successfully completing two consecutive floor clears, many players gradually relaxed and began to pay attention to their rest time, apart from fighting monsters and leveling up.

After a vote, the gathering was successfully arranged, and with everyone's active participation, a restaurant that could accommodate all members of the planning team was quickly found.

"Everyone, cheers for a successful conquest of the second floor!"

"Cheers—!!!" ×n

At the large gathering, Diabel, a social butterfly, was in full swing, keeping the atmosphere lively and bustling.

As the overall commander, Fujimaru Ritsuka had no choice but to step forward and say a few words. After completing the formal social interaction, she went to Asuna and Argo, who were hiding in the corner, and began their party, which seemed to be quite joyful.

Argo, in particular, was the biggest contributor to the second level of the strategy and received cheers and praise from everyone. There were far fewer people calling her a shrewd businesswoman.

However, Kirito, who was originally a member of their team, could only slink away to the other side. Fortunately, he still had Agil, an acquaintance, so he wouldn't become a pitiful lone wolf.

After the party, they easily found their way to the top of the tree and rented a room. It was sixty meters above the ground, offering an unparalleled view. In addition to being spacious, the south wall was lined with windows that not only offered a panoramic view of the fantastical scenery of the third layer of the forest but also allowed them to see the distant outer areas.

After saying goodnight to her, Asuna quickly drifted off to sleep.

Unsurprisingly, tonight will also be a peaceful night.

"Congratulations! You've successfully reached the third floor!"

"But you cleared the second level in such a hurry, I mean, were you really enjoying the game?"

Congratulations were followed by a worried voice. Fujimaru Ritsuka opened her eyes and saw BB standing in front of her with his hands on his hips, looking like he was a real worry.

She looks as if she wants to play the game herself, rather than being trapped in it, showing no awareness of being a villain.

"Who exactly did this?"

She couldn't help but complain, saying helplessly:

"And as for enjoying the game, all I can say is that I've given it my all."

"Um"

Lu Ran brought BB's face closer, scrutinizing her from head to toe with a critical gaze, before snapping his fingers and saying:

"Okay, you're a pass."

Although she didn't know what kind of challenge BB was referring to, the familiar sofa and coffee table quickly reappeared. After she sat down, BB conjured up desserts and steaming tea on the coffee table.

Curious, she picked up the teacup, took a sip, and her eyes lit up. She said:

“Delicious!”

"However, why does it taste a bit like tea brewed by Rikyu?"

"Humph!"

BB smiled slightly, a hint of smugness in her eyes, but then replied, feigning indifference:

"It's just a matter of reproducing the recorded data; AI can handle that with ease."

"Alright, let's get back to the main topic."

"Is there anything you want to ask me? If not, then see you next time!"

"Of course."

After hearing what BB said, she thought for a moment and then asked:

"BB, what have you been up to lately?"

"Hey, what's this? Unexpected concern?"

BB moved away from her, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and said somewhat warily:

"Trying to lure BB with sweet words to get them to stop the game or lower the conditions won't work, okay?"

Finally, as if encouraging herself, she emphasized again, adding:

"BB's determination to play pranks is quite unwavering!"

What are you saying?!

Fujimaru Ritsuka was speechless upon hearing this, completely bewildered by BB's reaction.

However, seeing that indirect questioning wasn't working, she simply went straight to the point and asked BB:

"BB, besides the game issue, you're not hiding anything else from me, are you?"

"."

After remaining motionless for a few seconds, seemingly frozen in place, BB suddenly smiled and said:

"The answer to that question is—it's a secret, okay?"

So, it exists, right?

So she looked at BB with increasing suspicion, but BB just kept smiling and responding. After a while of this stalemate, she finally sighed helplessly and chose to give up asking.

Judging from BB's expression, he seems determined not to let her know, and continuing this stalemate will not lead to anything.

We'll just have to wait and see how things go.

After ending that topic, she glanced around the studio. She didn't see Yui today; she was probably still somewhere in Aincrad, playing around.

When she thought of Yui, she remembered their conversation on the streets late at night, and the somewhat reluctant look in Yui's eyes when they said goodbye.

Thinking of this, she asked BB:

"What are your plans regarding Yui? Now that you've helped Yui awaken her intelligence, do you intend to take her with you when we leave?"

"Take her away? Why?"

Upon hearing this, BB raised an eyebrow slightly, then looked at her incredulously and said:

"You're fickle? You see a new AI and want to replace me, the old one?!"

"You womanizing senior!"

She exclaimed again, her face darkening:

"Seriously!"

"It feels like he's angry and embarrassed after his thoughts were exposed. Okay."

After making another sarcastic remark, BB finally quieted down and answered seriously:

"She is an AI that belongs to this world and this game. Why take her back? She wasn't launched by the main program to perform a mission to save the world."

At this point, she rolled her eyes at Fujimaru Ritsuka again and said:

"And you don't actually think that coming back with us and spending every day solving those outrageous events that threaten to destroy the world is a good idea, do you?"

"Not to mention her, even I am sometimes so scared that I want to run back to my hometown. I really don't know why you always manage to provoke those outrageous guys."

Hearing BB say that, she scratched her head a little embarrassedly.

To be honest, she was wronged. It wasn't her own fault for provoking those enemies. She was just caught in the crossfire and then defended and counterattacked.

However, Yui seemed very reluctant to let BB and me leave.

Saying this would seem to reveal that Yui and she had met alone, so after thinking about it, she decided to go down and see if there was a chance to talk to Yui again.

If Yui really wants to leave with them, she can talk to BB about it later.

So both questions remained unresolved, and just before she was about to leave, something suddenly occurred to her.

"Oh right, you know... never mind."

She actually wanted to ask about the man in the black raincoat, but she felt that BB probably wouldn't answer such a question, so she gave up asking.

However, BB seemed to have read her mind and asked with a smile:

"You want to ask about those murder mystery players, right?"

Here it comes!

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 187 Monologue: A Sudden Turn of Events

187.