Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

“Actually, you didn’t understand much of what he said, right?” Solin complained. “Keep chasing him, but stay hidden. I bet he’s going to meet up with his accomplices.”

26. The reappearance of [Swift Fencing]

"We've found part of it. Shall I tell you some of it first?"

While maintaining contact with Kirito, Sorin suddenly received this text message. He thought about it and figured that since Kirito, not him, was in charge of tracking him now, meeting with the information broker wouldn't be a bad idea.

“I’m at the side entrance of the Dostoevsky Café, right next to the kitchen door…come find me there,” he replied.

"Planting a bomb? What bomb? Never mind, don't move, I'll be there in two minutes."

Sorin was just making a joke out of habit; he hadn't actually explained to Argo what "planting a bomb" meant. After waiting for two minutes at the cafe entrance, Sorin saw a light yellow figure come running from the rooftop and land in front of him.

"Let's go inside and talk about it first. You just said you have plenty of money, how about you treat me to a meal?" The girl in light yellow leaned closer to Suolin, carefully examining his face. "Honestly, every time I see you, you seem like a cute little boy. I can't understand why you're so amazing."

"That's enough about my appearance. I already said I graduated two years ago," Solin replied with a dark expression. "And I hate this place. Eating here always makes me feel unsafe. But since you brought it up, let's have a meal together."

“I know what you’re worried about, but there’s no Rainbow Team here, no one’s shouting ‘Cluster charge going live!’ above your head, and there’s no really big fxcking hole.” Argo couldn’t help but laugh at Sorin’s reaction. “Actually, I did play against you before, at the 2020 UP Cup exhibition match, but I guess you’ve forgotten about it.”

"Pretty much, people don't remember much as they get older..." Sorin walked in, found a seat on the first floor that wasn't near a window, took the menu and ordered a few things, then put his hands on the table in a Commander Ikari pose, "Leave everything you've found to me."

“Some basic stuff. I’ll give it to you first, it’s all organized.” Argo said, taking out a stack of parchment and placing it on the table. “Also, looking at your appearance, it feels particularly incongruous that you claim to be old.”

"Forget about the awkwardness for now, let me take a look..." Having obtained crucial information, Sorin had no time for further complaints and focused all her attention on the papers in front of her. These papers listed the blacksmith's name, guild, and some other details. However, it was this name that truly caught Sorin's attention.

“This name…” Sorin looked at the name written as “Nezha”, “How cringeworthy is this… Look at the names of this group, Beowulf, Cú Chulainn, Orlando… No wonder they’re called the ‘Legendary Hero’ guild, are these guys really not straight out of Fate/Grand Order?”

"It's strange about his name. Everyone who knows him calls him [Nezuha] or [Nezuo], but I always feel that his name shouldn't be pronounced like that, because I've never heard of the name of a legendary hero like him."

“If you read it like that, of course you won’t find the corresponding person…” Sorin suddenly stopped talking, because Kirito suddenly sent him a call request at this moment, “Consider this meal on me, how much is the information fee?”

"Twenty thousand kol." Argo immediately gave a particularly frightening price, but she didn't expect that Sorin would simply take a money bag with "20k" written on it from her package, throw it on the table, and run out of the cafe like a gust of wind.

"What is all this nonsense..." she muttered to herself as she sat blankly at the table, then, as if venting her frustration, she forcefully stabbed the steak that had just been served with her fork.

At this moment, Sorin watched as the comment section was filled with messages like "Drink more hot water," but he didn't even have time to comment. Kirito had just sent him a message, and if he rushed, he could still get to Asuna at the last minute.

He had sent Asuna back to her residence earlier, so there shouldn't be any problem finding her there now. However, when he returned to the place where the three of them were staying and opened Asuna's room door, he found that she wasn't there at all.

"...Damn it, what's going on?" Sorin was completely dumbfounded. Kirito had just told him that Asuna had to complete the above operation before 8:30, but it was already 8:23 and he still hadn't seen Asuna.

Fortunately, he still retained basic cognitive abilities, and he immediately contacted Argo, hoping she could use her advanced targeting skills to locate Asuna. However, to his surprise, Argo, upon seeing that the caller was him, simply hung up without answering.

[This streamer is single by choice, I've followed her.]

[Solin: Drink more hot water]

"I... Kirito, Asuna is missing. I wanted Argo to help me find her, but Argo isn't answering my calls. What should I do?" Sorin sent a voice message to Kirito. After a while, Kirito's reply appeared in the window in front of him.

“You can see where your teammates are in squad mode. She’s at the Dostoevsky Café you went to before. Hurry up!” Kirito’s urgent voice rang out from the other side. “There’s no time to explain. Also, when you ask her to do that, find her an empty private room, or you’ll be in big trouble.”

"I understand." Solin nodded seriously, then jumped out of the window. After sustaining some injuries from the fall, he immediately ran back to where he had been.

On the first floor, Argo had calmed herself down and was wondering whether to call Solin to explain. But as soon as she looked up, she saw Solin rush into the restaurant and run straight upstairs without stopping, nearly bumping into several waiters along the way, but he dodged them all thanks to his excellent dynamic vision and reflexes.

"What is this all about?" Argo was even more confused. She stood there for a long time, then picked up her fork and began to destroy the only remaining plate of rotten steak in front of her.

While she was still in a daze, Suolin had already rushed up to the third floor. He glanced at the time: 8:27, three minutes to go.

He felt relieved, then quickly searched among the few tables on the third floor and soon found Asuna. Asuna was sitting there, but hadn't ordered anything to eat. She had already eaten, and her presence here was a result of her earlier argument with Sorin.

“Come with me.” He said, pulling Asuna’s hand and leading her to an empty cubicle not far away. “Let’s not worry about why you didn’t return to your residence for now. Just listen to me.”

Asuna seemed to be seeing such a strong-willed Sorin face to face for the first time. She even forgot to resist like a normal little girl and obediently let Sorin lead her into a private room under the strange gazes of the people dining around them.

"Do as I say, quick!" Sorin said, pulling up Kirito's chat history and closing the live stream. "Hurry up, follow my instructions: first bring up the menu, then the settings, search bar, and item bar..."

Asuna frantically operated the controls, but fortunately, her movements were relatively quick and without any mistakes. The button that Kirito had described was also revealed through this meticulous operation.

"All props are materialized! This is it!"

Asuna obediently clicked the button, and then stared in disbelief as all her items, including her equipment and personal belongings, which had been lying obediently in her inventory, fell out and landed at her feet.

"Ah! Suolin! You rushed over here just to act like a hooligan in front of me?"

Asuna let out a scream that a normal girl would make in this situation. However, Sorin was not frightened by the scream, but calmly went to the pile of things and began to rummage through them.

"Don't blame me, this idea came from Kirito. Of course, if his deduction is correct, you should be able to see your treasure again." As he said this, he took out the item that the three of them had already determined to be "dead" from the bottom of the pile of things.

Asuna's [Swift Fencing +4]

27. Strengthening the Fraudster

Now let's push the timeline back a little and see what Kirito did to discover this information.

Kirito's [Stealth] skill is quite proficient, but this is the first time he's ever followed a player. Fortunately, the blacksmith named [Nezha] didn't expect to be followed, so Kirito successfully followed him all the way without being caught red-handed.

He kept playing the background music from Mission: Impossible and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood in his mind, using the stealth skills he learned from these games and movies to move from one shadow to another.

The blacksmith remained listless. He walked to a spot against a wall in the eastern part of Urbas and stopped in front of a sign. The sign read "BAR," indicating it was a tavern. He hesitated at the entrance for a while, which Kirito found rather odd.

Normally, it's perfectly reasonable for a man who's worked all day to go to a bar for a treat after get off work. But in that case, the blacksmith should have just walked right in, instead of lingering outside. Just when Kirito thought he was going to leave, he adjusted the rug he was using for his stall on his shoulder and slowly pushed open the door.

Suddenly, cheers and applause erupted from the other side of the door, along with other men shouting, "Nezha, welcome back!"

"If Sorin is right, these should be his accomplices, but that shouldn't be the case..." Kirito pondered, quietly moving to the front of the tavern door, gently opening it a crack, and beginning to listen to the sounds inside.

The conversation began with praise for Nezuha's work, which is quite normal for a production-oriented player in a team. Furthermore, Kirito couldn't understand why, while Diabel's previous attempt to buy his and Sorin's weapons through a bunch of intermediaries could be explained as preventing the two from stealing Ilfan's LA rewards, this group's deliberate sabotage of Sorin and Asuna's weapons seemed completely irrational.

Just then, Kirito overheard something even more crucial.

"But that was the limit..."

"...No problem, we can definitely keep going."

"This is really dangerous... and we've already broken even..."

"What are you talking about? This is just the beginning! Let's make a fortune and catch up with the top players on the second level!"

Break even? Make a fortune? Is everything Suolin said true?

As Kirito thought this, he tried to figure out Nezuha's modus operandi and what they relied on to profit.

"Huh? What's wrong with the door?" A voice suddenly came from inside. Kirito, startled but still calm, immediately activated his [Concealment] skill under the nearest tree and hid. A man wearing a pointed helmet emerged from the tavern, looked around, but didn't notice Kirito crouching under the tree. Or perhaps he realized someone might be eavesdropping, but Kirito used his excellent stealth skills to move to the other side of the tree and remained undetected.

After gathering this information, Kirito suddenly made some deductions, combining his unique experiences and knowledge as a closed beta player, and quickly discovered the method Nezuha used to trick people into giving him weapons.

However, it was too late to get back to their lodgings. So Kirito could only tell Sorin the solution and ask him to help retrieve Asuna's rapier, which led to the events that followed in the previous chapter.

——————Ulbass West District, second floor of residential area——————

"So that blacksmith was a fraud... that's solid proof, right?" Sorin leaned against the wall, looking at Kirito with great interest. "Then let's have our great detective, Mr. Kirito, explain his modus operandi."

“OK, actually we experienced something similar on the first floor. After that Swamp Kobold Assault Soldier on the first floor knocked the weapon away, this is what happened.” Kirito said, tossing his sword aside and showing his equipment inventory. Although the weapon section still had the description of “Forged Blade +6”, the weapon was not displayed in the slot; instead, it was just a gray fog.

“Now, Asuna, could you please pick up the sword and put it in your hand?” he said. Asuna struggled to pick up the sword, and was surprised to find that the weapon slot, which had been filled with gray mist, was now empty.

"This state is just a handover operation. Only if it is not retrieved after 300 seconds will other players currently holding the sword be allowed to use it. But at this time, the sword's 'owner' is still me... You should understand."

“Changing the manipulator doesn’t change the owner, I know that much, after all, many people have been tricked.” Sorin nodded, then made a “Keep on” gesture with his right hand.

"But the owner will actually be transferred after 3,600 seconds, which is one hour. Or if a new weapon is equipped during this period, the owner will be transferred immediately. This is probably why the blacksmith suggested that Asuna use the [Iron Fencing Sword] temporarily." Kirito said this with a sneer. "If we had believed his nonsense and let Asuna equip the [Iron Fencing Sword], the [Swift Fencing Sword +4] might have been his."

"Then why did the weapon break? You mentioned before that there's no penalty for a weapon breaking after a failed upgrade in this game, so how did he manage to do it?" Asuna nodded absentmindedly, then suddenly realized something was amiss and pressed for an answer.

"That's what we'll be exploring later. Tomorrow I'll be leading a team to take down the wild boss blocking the way in the labyrinth area and advance into it. You two should be prepared then." Sorin waved his hand, interrupting Kirito, who seemed to want to continue explaining or reasoning, and then said, "As for this equipment scammer, I have a trick up my sleeve, but I'll have to trouble Kirito. Let me tell you..."

Asuna's eyes lit up with a strange light as she listened to Sorin's plan, while Kirito's face turned red, his right hand trembling as he pointed at Sorin, unable to utter a word.

"Okay, it's decided then. The vote in the team is currently two to one, so Kirito, you should go for it."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't make decisions on your own!"

——————Ice City, Harbin Institute of Technology, Campus 1, Harbin Institute of Technology Hospital——————

"Brother Liu, are you sure you want to do this? Surgery now... isn't that a bit too risky?"

"Don't worry, doctor, I trust your skills. Besides, this kid's father entrusted this thing to me in his will, so only in this situation can we implant it discreetly."

"Alright then, I'll do as you say and go arrange it now. But this thing is only useful if he comes out of SAO alive."

"We should have faith in their children. I, for one, don't believe that any member of that family could die in a place like this without even going to war."

28. Miss Nashley, the Conglomerate Sorcerer (lol)

The following day, on the plains outside the maze area, the raiding team members, fully equipped and ready, stood scattered in place, waiting for the main tank to engage the boss. Sorin was once again in charge of the raid, but in reality, this boss, designed specifically for a small team, wasn't particularly difficult. Sorin only needed to give instructions on interrupting the fight at crucial moments.

However, a highlight appeared at the place where everyone was gathered... a flat-chested girl with long black hair standing next to Solin, who was quite cute, immediately attracted the attention of all the Edelweiss members.

"President, this is..." Lu Fei'er curiously leaned closer, carefully examining the girl's familiar pretty face, and asked in confusion.

“You can call her Nahiri. She’s another companion I found, but she’s not very talkative,” Sorin replied. The girl Sorin called Nahiri glared at him angrily, but she didn’t say anything.

Lu Fei'er nodded, not dwelling on the matter further, and returned to his position, ready to engage the monster at any moment. This volatile bull (male minotaur) named Belbas Bao appeared unusually agitated; he stomped heavily on the ground, seemingly constantly wary of the Edelweiss guild members standing around him.

"Everyone who shows up today will get 20 DKP. The main tank (MT) will get an extra 10 DKP. Then, the DKP for clearing the maze area later will be calculated based on the progress. Every 0.1% of map progress is worth 1 DKP. Do you understand?" Sorin gestured for the members to be quiet with his hands, then glanced at them. "Alright, the tank is now counting down. Everyone, get into position!"

He activated the countdown function and then set a countdown marker above Belbas Bao's head. After counting down three seconds, the marker turned into an inverted triangle.

MT is a heavy shield warrior with the ID Jura. His weapon is quite peculiar: a heavy tower shield as tall as a person, and he has no other offensive weapons. Even so, he can still wield this tower shield in a variety of ways. At least Sorin suffered quite a bit when facing him in the last PvP.

He stepped forward, gave the boss the middle finger with his free right hand, and let out a huge shout: "Eek... Hmph... Aa ...

This shout is the pre-action animation for the Shield Warrior's [Taunt] skill. Interestingly, this skill only requires the user to shout at a volume above a certain level, but there's no fixed content for the shout. And Yura... clearly knows some rather cheesy internet memes.

[Too many elements, shield warriors should commit suicide.]

After activating his taunt skill, he stood still, slightly crouched, and then charged forward with his shield raised, interrupting Belbas Burst's charge skill, which he had just pulled aggro on and was about to charge. He then immediately followed up with a shield slam to regain aggro, while simultaneously sending a signal to Sorin.

"DPS, you can go in now. Be careful to dodge the ground stomp skill. If you get stared at, remember to run behind the MT." After giving these instructions, Solin charged to Belbas the Tyrant's feet and started attacking. This time, the Tauren boss was almost a meter taller than a normal player, so there was no need to worry about hitting vital points. Just focus on taking down its feet.

Solin suddenly thought of that shameless colleague who shouted, "Only a storm can bring down a tree? FNNDP!" He shook his head, clearing these messy thoughts from his mind. Then, a barrage of attacks rained down on Belbas Bao, before he immediately stopped and stood aside, waiting for the main tank to continue drawing aggro.

This boss only has two skills: Charge and Ground Stomp. Charge can usually be interrupted by Yura's Shield Slam, while Ground Stomp has a long wind-up, making it almost impossible to hit anyone. After a group of people struggled for about twenty minutes, this massive minotaur finally fell to the ground, turned into fragments and disappeared, clearing the path to the maze area.

"So I'm telling you, I'm really not unlucky, why don't you guys believe me?" Solin seemed to be arguing with the viewers in his live stream, and then checked the loot of Belbas the Violent. "Naked... ugh, one Power Belt, one Belbas Ring, this is a bit unlucky."