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

So Sorin and Eugeo, without arousing the villagers' suspicion, headed north as fast as they could, until they reached the outskirts of the village. Unlike the south, where there were wide wheat fields everywhere, the north of the village was a deep forest. Irrigation canals circled around the hills that formed a barrier around the village before connecting to the stream that ran north-south through the forest.

Eugeo stepped onto the path that led along the river, and after walking a short distance, he suddenly used the sacred magic of the Window of Stysia to open the Destiny of the weeds before him.

“It’s a bit less than normal. Someone once stepped on it while passing by.” He squatted on the ground and said, “The number of people who lost their lives wasn’t much. Proportionally, it should be an individual weighing around 30 to 40 pounds.”

“It shouldn’t be anyone else but Seruka. We haven’t made a mistake. This is really good news.” Sorin said jokingly. “Okay, now for the second step. Bring us our swords. We’re here to rescue people, not to be thrown away.”

“But… those guys shouldn’t cross the forbidden border to come to us, right? I’ve never heard of such a thing before, Sorin.” Eugeo’s tone still sounded quite hesitant. “If we go to get the sword, it will take up a lot of time.”

“Believe me, the time you’re wasting now is a precaution to avoid being caught off guard or even losing if we encounter something strange later… You should understand what I mean.” Solin shook his head and said seriously, “To put it bluntly, it’s just in case. As long as we run fast, it won’t take too long.”

“Okay, I don’t understand what you’re saying, Sorin. Is this your native language?” Eugeo nodded thoughtfully, then asked curiously, “It sounds quite peculiar.”

“That’s how it is. If you want to learn, I can teach you a greeting first. Listen carefully to my pronunciation.” Sorin suddenly felt a bit joking. He looked at Eugeo, who had suddenly become curious, and demonstrated it to him clearly, “Cyka blyat, it’s a universal greeting, just like hello. Blyat is an interjection, you can add it to the end of anything you say, like ‘you’re awesome blyat’.”

"That sounds pretty strange..."

Of course, this idle chatter didn't last long. Sorin told Eugeo to wait there, then went to the previous storage hut to retrieve the Blue Rose Sword, now scabbarded in a leather sheath, and hurried here again. Sorin's stamina was always excellent, but he felt that this game seemed to have enhanced his running ability. To verify this, he sprinted at full speed on his way back, and even after more than ten minutes, he still didn't feel any discomfort.

"Did you find it, Sorin?" Eugeo looked at Sorin, who was rushing towards him. Sorin simply patted him on the shoulder as he passed by, and then his clear, pleasant voice rang in his ear, "Alright, hurry up and keep up with me."

He suddenly froze, staring at Solin's flowing silver hair and slightly petite figure, as if still wondering if he was the same person who had given him such a powerful, sword-saint-like aura that day. After a long while, watching Solin's figure grow ever more distant, he hurried after him.

The two ran side by side through the last few hundred meters, stopping when the grass beneath their feet turned into fine sand.

"It really is just a game, huh? Speaking of which, my character stats should be pretty high, since I've been running for so long and the stamina bar hasn't even shown up, and I don't feel fatigued at all..." Solin pondered this, recalling the somewhat incomprehensible text he'd seen in his stats earlier, and silently complained about the game's simplistic nature. "It's supposed to be a very well-made game, but the UI is so sloppy..."

As he said this, he suddenly looked up, then at the scene before him, and once again complained:

"Okay, I take back what I just said. Just how lazy are the programmers here?!"

Underworld, March 12, 378th year of the Human Calendar

It's not surprising that Sorin would suddenly complain here; the design of this place is just... too easy to suspect that the designer slacked off. After passing through a slight buffer zone at the edge of the lush forest, suddenly a near-vertical snow-capped mountain stands there. The two are starkly distinct, and the buffer zone seems to Sorin as if it doesn't exist at all.

The snow-capped mountains stretched from left to right from where he and Eugeo were, extending to the distance they could see, perfectly dividing the world into "this side" and "that side".

"You know, this weird modeling reminds me of CS 1.6... They just used textures directly, that's so sloppy." He stood there for a while, then muttered to himself, "Is this the End of the Mountains? And the Dark Kingdom is behind it?"

“I was also shocked when I first came here, because I never expected the end of the world to be so close,” Eugeo agreed, then urged, “Let’s hurry up, we should be less than thirty minutes away from Seruka now. If we find her and head back immediately, we should be able to get back to the village before curfew.”

“That makes sense.” Sorin nodded, then ran forward at the same exaggerated speed as before. The entrance to this place was rather peculiar; to put it simply, it was “initially extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but after walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious area.” Eugeo led Sorin from the source of this small river into the mountain range, and inside that source was a wide and dark cave.

"I can't see anything at all... Can I have an A1 high-brightness flash? Please!"

Sorin shouted loudly, and although Eugeo didn't understand the meaning of Sorin's last sentence, he roughly understood what he was trying to say. He nodded, held up a blade of grass that he had picked up at some point, and read aloud earnestly:

"System call! Little small rod!"

Suddenly, the tip of the grass spike in Eugeo's hand emitted a blue-white light. He then held this makeshift flashlight in front of him and quickly walked into the cave.

"Wardfa, is this also a sacred spell? This is too hardcore! A medieval fantasy world where you have to chant spells in the system's language? What kind of ridiculous setting is this?!" Sorin couldn't help but shout out again, then turned to Eugeo and asked, "Do you really know what this means?"

"I don't know, or rather, it doesn't really have any specific meaning. It's just a ritual, a spell to pray to the gods for a miracle. The spells for advanced sacred magic are several times longer than the one we just heard," Eugeo explained calmly.

"Yes, I also think it should be several times that, and divided into many rows."

"Huh? Sorin, how do you know that high-level holy spellbooks are written in separate lines? Do you also know holy spells?"

"No, all I can say is that this divine magic is damn realistic. I'm tired of complaining about the design." Sorin shook his head, following closely behind Eugeo, still gripping the beautiful longsword tightly in his hand. "Wow, I can't believe Serka would dare to come to a place like this by herself. Isn't she afraid of the dark?"

“I wouldn’t say there’s anything to be afraid of. The original inhabitant of this cave—that white dragon—has long since disappeared, and there’s nothing here now.” Eugeo thought for a moment and came up with a clever explanation for Seruka’s actions. “There’s not even a blade of grass on the ground, so what could possibly sustain life here, if there is any life at all?”

“Judging the consumer’s situation by the producer’s situation…” Sorin muttered to himself, “That makes sense. Let’s keep going… Seruka? Seruka… Can you hear me?”

However, no one responded to him. What was even more bizarre was that there were other noises echoing in the cave, which should have been empty, along with his voice.

"It sounds like the call of some kind of bird or wild animal, very mysterious and unusual," Solin said casually, but then he heard a girl's scream, "Is that you? Seruka?"

He snatched the blade of grass from Eugeo's hand, then dashed off in the direction of the sound, sprinting across the ground at full speed. The sound wasn't coming from nearby, and he was prepared for a long run. Moreover, the hurried scream clearly indicated that he hadn't been startled by something; rather, some kind of very serious danger was indeed looming over Serka.

Soon, Sorin rushed into the cave from which the sound had come. The cave was about fifty meters high, with a large crack in the middle revealing a pool of dark blue water below. Beside this pool was an orange light source, the glow of burning firewood.

Of course, there were still quite a few people around the campfire... or rather, things that looked humanoid, about thirty in total. These guys were remarkably well-known: gray-green skin, short stature, hunchbacks, and ferocious faces—the goblins that are the newbies' best friend in many RPGs.

"Well, the whole family kicks each other, and I'm the only one who gets killed. How come I keep seeing these ghosts everywhere I go?" Solin looked at the thirty-odd ghosts in front of him with a grim expression, and at Seruka crouching trembling in the cage next to the fire. He suddenly felt his head was about to explode. "Could you please just disappear already, my friend?"

One of the goblins suddenly let out an extremely eerie laugh when it saw Thorin and Eugeo, and then said, "Hey, look! I don't know what's going on today—two more White Ivum goblins have broken in!"

"What should we do? Should we arrest these two too?"

The first ghost let out that cry, and immediately a roar came from the depths, silencing all the ghosts. They parted to the left and right, and a giant goblin that looked like a commander emerged from the center.

Solin stared intently at the man who had suddenly appeared, and heard him say in a hoarse voice, "Even if we capture the male Ivums, we can't sell them. It's too much trouble. Let's just slaughter them here and turn them into pieces of meat."

"What should we do? Solin... wait?"

Eugeo nervously turned around to look, but in that instant, Sorin suddenly rushed out, still looking at him halfway, and then shouted loudly:

"A1 high flash! Quick!"

Underworld, March 13, 378th year of the Human Calendar

Even though no one in this world can understand his puns, he still habitually uses all sorts of strange puns during intense battles. After all, if he didn't spout some witty remarks while fighting, Suolin wouldn't be the Suolin we know.

"System call! Little small rod! (So why does something that literally translates to 'little rod' end up making a little rod glow? That's so strange—author's note)"

Eugeo still didn't know what Sorin meant by "A1 High Flash," but after hearing Sorin mention it once before, he understood that Sorin probably wanted him to create something like light. So he chanted the holy spell again, using the grass spike in his hand as a medium to summon a bright flash.

The flashbang was incredibly effective. Although the monsters had lit a fire inside the cave, they were still somewhat photophobic. Caught off guard, the leader of the monsters was completely blinded by the flash, immediately collapsing to the ground, clutching his eyes. Sorin, however, was prepared. With a practiced backflash, he turned and drew his Blue Rose Sword.

"I don't even know how I could lose this game! Just because there are more people doesn't mean we can't win!"

He continued shouting his incomprehensible battle cry, then thrust his Wind Chaser Sword straight at the demon leader's head. The demon leader cried out in pain, hastily retreating as he did so, then pointed his large cleaver at Sorin and Eugeo.

"Charge! Kill them!" His grating roar echoed throughout the cave, and with his command, the thirty or so ghosts swarmed forward, a sight that made Solin's scalp tingle.

"WDNMD, one (hundred million) drops of blood! And they're still not dead... Fine, fine, you win. Having more people is indeed impressive. I'm outta here."

Sorin hadn't expected that after he'd blown the demon's head off with a single sword strike, the guy was still alive. Sensing danger, he quickly grabbed Eugeo, who was still standing there in a daze, and turned to run. Eugeo had been worried that Sorin might impulsively rush forward, but the current situation was truly beyond his expectations.

“Pull them back a bit. The path behind is narrower, so their numerical advantage will be negligible, making it much easier to fight.” Sorin noticed Eugeo’s confusion and quickly explained, “It’s not about deserting or anything, it’s just a tactical necessity.”

“That’s not what I meant… There are many passages in this cave. It would be terrible if they got behind us.” Eugeo hid behind Sorin, still tightly clutching the glowing blade of grass in his hand. “I didn’t expect there to be so many monsters… Did they all come from that side?”

“Let me tell you, this so-called ‘boundary line separating human and monster territories’ is generally bullshit. Even if it exists, it’s practically made of paper. Bringing up this kind of setting is like telling you they’ll definitely come from that side.” After retreating into the passage, Sorin was noticeably calmer. He casually slit the throat of a monster grunt, watching the bright red blood spurt out, and suddenly laughed. “You know, this realistic blood reminds me of that joke about R18 games. So this game is damn realistic, which is actually quite to my taste.”

"What game? And what does R18 mean?" Eugeo asked, puzzled and curious. He had heard Sorin speak his native dialect, which left him completely bewildered, many times, making him increasingly curious about Sorin's hometown. "Where are you from, Sorin..."

“Sometimes, life is a game, and a game can be a life. Who can say for sure?” Solin said casually, holding the Blue Rose Sword in front of him to block the monster’s slash from behind. With a flick of his wrist, he deflected the monster’s short sword and thrust it forward, piercing it through. “What you consider a complete life may just be a few lines of text written by someone in another world, and the scene of that person holding the pen may just be two or three frames on a screen in another world… Who can say for sure?”

After saying that, he laughed again. Some of the splattered blood splashed onto his pale cheeks, giving Solin a deadly, bewitching quality, like a blood-stained epiphyllum.

"This world is very dangerous! But that's what makes it interesting. If you want to do something, you'd better hurry up now, or it might be too late!"

Sorin's voice was still as clear as when they first met, but it carried a cruel, blood-stained quality. His words were a reminder to Eugeo, but in a sense, they were also a reminder to himself.

"Hesitation leads to defeat. Ikuzo! Eugeo, watch my movements carefully; this is what I'm going to teach you!"

"What you're going to teach me...?"

Eugeo stood silently behind Sorin, watching him repeatedly slay the monsters that attacked him through the passage, his body stained with more and more blood until his clothes were completely red. The swirling blades, accompanied by a cloud of blood, created a terrifying scene that made him repeatedly mutter to himself, "Coach, I can't do this..."

Surprisingly, he didn't feel much fear. Perhaps it was because the things dying in the hellish scene before him were not of the same kind, but more than that... perhaps it was a feeling of longing for such a powerful person.

If I were that powerful, could I also wield a weapon as formidable as the Blue Rose Sword and bring Alice back from the Central Capital? This thought flashed through Eugeo's mind in an instant, then rapidly amplified. Perhaps when Alice was taken away, a seed of desire to become stronger was planted in Eugeo's heart, and after witnessing Sorin's elegant yet bloody battle, this seed sprouted imperceptibly and grew rapidly, becoming so large that he could no longer ignore it.

“One day, I will be as strong as you, Sorin,” he suddenly said.

"What did you say?" Thorin didn't hear Eugeo's whisper in the midst of the fierce battle. After slicing down a goblin and killing him with a swift backhand, he suddenly felt that the number of people in front of him seemed a bit off, so he quickly reminded him, "There's a group flanking us, get ready to break through with me."

Underworld, March 14, 378th year of the Human Calendar

Eugeo looked behind him in alarm, only to see that there were already scattered lights in the deep, dark tunnel behind them. It seemed that a small number of monster soldiers had indeed come to their side through another passage.

“See, I told you long ago, if we come to this scene empty-handed, we’re guaranteed to be killed. So I was a bit prescient.” Solin said smugly, seemingly not taking the monsters that were about to touch them seriously at all. “Stay close to me. It’s hard for me to be distracted in this situation to protect you. Try your best to protect yourself.”

“I understand, Sorin… but what about all of this…” Eugeo nodded seriously, but he could see that even after Sorin’s killing spree, there were still about four or five goblins blocking his way, and the goblin troublemaker was standing behind them, so his tone was somewhat hesitant.

Even with the monster-killing efficiency that Sorin just demonstrated, it might still take some time to take down these guys. In that case, the goblins behind could easily surround them before Sorin could finish off the goblins in front and break through, which would put them in a very difficult position.

"There's no 'but' about it. Although it might be a bit of a stretch, it would be pointless to use it now."

There was no fear in Sorin's eyes, or rather, from the very beginning, only excitement could be seen in his beautiful eyes. He placed the Blue Rose Sword at his side, casually flicked off the blood, and then suddenly closed his eyes.

"Today I'll show you that the young man has returned. Ultimate Sword Technique—Storm Style!"

He had only intended to give it a try, because although his swordsmanship was quite disciplined, he hadn't used the "starting stance - casting time to activate the sword skill" method from SAO. He simply wanted to use the power of this body to recreate the highest-level one-handed sword skills he could use in SAO. However, after he performed the starting stance of the Extreme Sword Technique Storm, a strange force suddenly enveloped his body, and then he vanished before everyone's eyes.

No, it didn't disappear; it was simply that the eye couldn't capture that incredible speed of advance. Even with all his might, Eugeo could only vaguely make out a silver-white and red shadow. As Thorin activated this skill, more than a dozen different azure longswords suddenly appeared on both sides of the passage, followed by almost continuous screams.

He couldn't see the person, but he could see the bloodstains left by their slashes as they passed by, and he could hear the screams of agony as the slashes passed. The troublemaker hadn't expected that such a powerful swordsman would exist in this remote, border-like place.

At this moment, the arrogance and contempt in his eyes had turned into immense fear, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably. Finally, when the fatal strike came, he was also seized by this fear and did not even have time to turn around and run away.

Eugeo watched helplessly as the leading demon's knee was first severed by an upward slash, followed by seven consecutive upward slashes, culminating in the final, fatal blow that slicing through his throat. Only then did he regain his senses and look back, discovering that the sparks that had once graced the end of the passage had vanished.

"This can't be real..." he muttered to himself, squatting on the ground, then suddenly looked at Solin walking towards him, "Isn't this a bit too powerful..."

What puzzled him, however, was that Solin, who usually chimed in with a few offhand remarks about everything he said, didn't respond with any incomprehensible words. He noticed Solin swaying, his steps unsteady, his right hand gripping the Blue Rose Sword trembling slightly. He wouldn't have been surprised if the blood-red figure before him had collapsed in the next moment…

So he reached out and gently caught Sorin as he fell toward him. He didn't seem bothered by the blood soaking Sorin's clothes and exposed skin; instead, almost unconsciously, he stroked Sorin's hair. If Sorin were still conscious, he would have given him a look of disgust and calmly said something like, "Get away from me, don't touch my head." But now he remained silent, only slightly shaking his head before leaning against Eugeo's shoulder and quietly closing his eyes.

"Sorin is so light," Eugeo thought to himself. He sheathed the Blue Rose Sword and set it aside, then picked Sorin up in a princess carry and carried him into the cave. "Honestly, this Sorin... it's completely different from how he was just now."

He worried that there might be other monsters from the Dark Kingdom here, so he quickened his pace, searched the monster leader and found the key to the black cage, and released Selka, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

"Wake up, Selka, you're safe." Eugeo whispered in Selka's ear, and the girl shook her head groggily after hearing his call, her eyes still filled with fear.

"Eugeo..." she murmured softly, about to remind Eugeo about the goblins, when she saw the horrific scene before her, a veritable carnage, and her voice turned terrified, "What... what's going on?"

"It's a long story, but in short, those goblins... have all been taken care of by Sorin." Eugeo explained the fierce battle that had just taken place to Selka in the shortest possible way, and then, without saying a word, used a short sword he had picked up to cut the ropes binding Selka and brought her out of the cage. "Can you walk by yourself? The situation with Sorin... is a bit strange."

"Hmm..." Seruka nodded blankly, and after tentatively taking two steps forward, he saw Eugeo immediately run to Sorin, who was resting against the wall at the entrance, and pick him up in his arms. "Wait... Sorin? Is he alright?"

“I don’t know if this counts as something happening or nothing, but he shouldn’t have been touched by those goblins even once.” Eugeo looked at the beautiful woman sleeping peacefully in his arms with a complicated expression, his mind still feeling very chaotic. “Hurry up, I’m not sure if there are any other monsters from over there wandering around here, we need to hurry back to the village and tell the elders.”