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

【FFF】*N

[Commander, burn it.]

I'm curious about what happened after the stream ended; it all happened so fast I didn't understand.

"Alright, even after all this, we still have half a day off to enjoy. We can call it a day now." Just as Sorin finished speaking, he saw a message from Argo: [The Aincrad Liberation Army and the Dragoon Regiment have already set off and are currently in the labyrinth area. They've already located the boss room.]

75. The undercurrents have never disappeared.

“I need detailed information, Argo. What happened?” Sorin asked anxiously. “Why would they suddenly launch a raid? It’s still Christmas!”

"Someone spread rumors within both guilds that the boss would drop a crucial item, and after Diabel and Fang Wang discussed it, they secretly started raiding it. I just found out about this myself," Argo quickly replied from the other side.

"This is bad... Considering what Kirito told me last time, there might be traitors in these two guilds..." Sorin thought to himself. However, he didn't doubt that there were such spies in his own guild. The reason was simple: if there was even one person in the Edelweiss guild who tipped off the red-named players, then there wouldn't have been only six people who came to besiege Sorin. If they could send out, they probably would have sent sixty people, fearing that Sorin would escape.

Solin frowned, looked at the members present, pondered for a long time, and finally gave the order.

“Everyone, assemble in squads now. Each squad must have at least one polearm and one tank. Now follow me to the maze area and prepare for a large-scale PvP battle,” he said. “We have reason to believe that the Fang King and Diabel’s squads have been infiltrated by that unknown red-named guild. If they rush to attack the boss now, they’re likely to run into trouble. Hurry up.”

No one questioned Sorin's decision, even though the order definitely wasted everyone's vacation time. Kirito and Sorin used their high reputation and special relationship with NPCs to borrow a large enough phoenix-tailed ship to carry more than thirty members of the Edelweiss Guild. They even invited the extremely powerful Viscount as an outside helper. Thus, a grand fleet set sail towards the labyrinth area.

Sorin could pretty much guess what would happen next. It would be nothing more than the Dragoon Regiment and the Aincrad Liberation Army, halfway through the boss battle, having those red-named players storm into the boss room, disrupting the normal combat and causing massive casualties – a situation no one hoping to complete the game wanted to see.

At this moment, it can be said that we are racing against time. Fortunately, Yuffie City and the maze area are only a mountain away. Even if we take the waterway, which is a long detour, we will reach the lower level of the maze area in just over ten minutes.

"Argo just sent me a map. Everyone follow me and get to the boss room as quickly as possible." Sorin unfolded the map and pointed to one of the maze's forks in the path. "This way. Those who have learned enemy detection, activate it. Report any humanoid targets immediately!"

While time was of the essence, rushing too quickly could lead to an ambush in a confined area, potentially endangering many lives. Sorin was indeed trying to save people, but he had no intention of sacrificing his own team members.

However, upon reaching the boss room, Sorin saw no one report any unidentified humanoid targets. Strangely, while the boss room doors had always been open, this one was tightly shut, as if conveying the message that "the previous team did not complete the raid, so other teams cannot enter."

However, he still had to give it a try. Solin tentatively pulled on the door, and it opened halfway in an instant, while a torrent of water rushed out, drenching him completely.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed instinctively, then immediately shielded Yuna behind him. "Wow, it's almost as big as the Fountain of Happiness! What is all this nonsense?"

He wiped the water off his face and looked inside the room. This boss was even more bizarre than the rooster-like fish monster that Sorin had seen on the shallows. Perhaps we could use a similar naming convention to call it the "Little Horse Big Fish Monster" or the "Half-Fish Horse".

"I even think this is Simik's lab now," Sorin muttered, then shouted into the room, "Diabelle! Tooth King! What's going on with you two?"

"I want to know too! I was thinking of stopping relying on you all the time and trying to do this thing myself, but who knew this weird fish could release water into the arena?" Tooth King's distinctive voice rang out from inside. "What are we going to do now?"

"Kirito, Asuna, you two take the NPCs in and help kill the boss. Kirito will take LA in a bit, then reveal it. Yuna, stay with me and just buff them. Everyone else, wait outside. Don't go in unless I tell you to." Sorin thought for a moment and quickly assigned tasks. "Open all the available slots. I guess these people should be enough to handle this boss. Based on the information in the strategy guide, the only difference between this boss and the closed beta, or what could be considered a difficulty, is this 'water release' skill. Now that there's a way to counter it, it's not really a problem. What we need to guard against is something else."

"Something else?" Yura asked疑惑地, "Could there be other monsters?"

"Heh, if only they were just monsters. But in reality, no matter how terrifying a monster is, it's not as terrifying as the human heart." Solin sneered, then explained, "I suspect those red-named troublemakers who tried to assassinate me yesterday will cause some trouble during today's boss fight. We can take precautions here. If we see any red-named individuals, we can just kill them without holding back."

"Kill them outright? That's murder, isn't it?" Agil hesitated as he said this. "Simply sending them to prison would be enough. Do we really need to go that far?"

"It's just a traditional way of thinking, and it's clearly more effective in times like these. We can't wait until bloodshed and sacrifice before we think about taking this seriously."

Suolin replied and then stood at the door to wait. Of course, the waiting process wasn't too boring, since they needed to open the sluice gate to release water every now and then, so they had work to do and there was also light music to listen to.

However, after defending against thirteen moves, Sorin ultimately failed to see any red-named players appear, which relieved him. After the high-difficulty boss battles of the first three levels, the fourth level was designed to be a relatively easy boss. Furthermore, with the addition of a Dark Elf Viscount with explosive damage output, the battle lasted another ten minutes before Kirito used a high-damage sword skill to snatch LA. Following Sorin's instructions, he then showed the loot to Diabel and Fang's teams.

"Who knows if you're hiding something?" A voice of doubt suddenly emerged from Ya Wang's team, followed by more voices of doubt. While Diabel wasn't the first to speak out, the situation was similar. Both Ya Wang and Diabel understood that Sorin's request for Kirito to display the dropped item was merely a statement; the rest was up to them to judge.

[Watch who pops up first in your team. Your guilds have been infiltrated by the red-named guild I mentioned. You'd better deal with this as soon as possible.]

After sending the message, Solin immediately gathered the team at the entrance, retraced their steps, and walked out of the maze area before announcing the team's disbandment. He didn't try to steal credit from the two guilds above, since they were the ones who did the majority of the damage output; Solin's team was essentially just a reserve force. Since nothing had happened, the reserve team could simply disband; there was no need to rush up there to claim credit for opening the portal.

However, he knew that eliminating those red-named players, who were like a cancer to the strategy team, was more important than the strategy itself.

76. Ancient

The theme of the fifth floor is ruins, and upon arriving, Sorin felt that the terrain resembled the ruins of magnificent cities from Assassin's Creed Origins. He was still traveling with the veteran Kirito, and of course, the newbies Yuna and Asuna were also in the team.

It must be said that Yuna's bard look is quite fitting for the appearance of this main city. Of course, it would be even more appropriate if she were holding a lute, an instrument that only exists in history.

"If I had to choose, I definitely wouldn't linger here any longer. It's not as good as I thought." Solin complained. He had never really liked this type of architectural style. "If the boss on this floor doesn't have any special skills, then we can just gather our people and head into the maze area to deal with the boss."

"That's true, but this floor still has many unique features," Kirito defended the floor. "For example, there are ancient coins and artifacts scattered throughout the floor, which can be exchanged for money if you find them. And these unexpected finds were loved by many players with a collecting habit."

"Can I exchange it for money?" Solin perked up immediately upon hearing this. Before heading to the fifth level, he had troubled the blacksmith in Yufiel City to upgrade his three newly acquired weapons to +8. This cost was so enormous that Solin didn't even have enough money left for lodging and food. Perhaps he would have to live off a woman for a while.

Of course, the blacksmith also gave him a rather interesting gift. It was a pair of weapons that could be strapped to his hands, called "Nothing is True & Everything is Permissive." The special features were that they did not occupy normal equipment slots and could not be stored in the "Kaleidoscope." They could not be used while a weapon was still equipped.

At the time, he only took this item because he could occasionally cosplay as a Brotherhood assassin in addition to being a musketeer. As for its practicality... this item is actually more suitable for players who can only equip one weapon. For a build like his, if he really lost all his weapons, this item wouldn't be able to salvage the situation.

"By the way, Sorin, I recommend a bar... or you could call it a dessert shop, whatever you want. Go check it out if you have time, and remember to bring Yuna along." Kirito suddenly said this mysteriously, then sent Sorin a map via private message. Sorin glanced at Kirito in surprise, then smiled and nodded, as if to say, "I understand, I understand."

"Wait a minute, I have a question. There aren't even any city walls here, so how do you distinguish between the inside and outside of the circle?" This was Solin's next question. He had noticed this problem when he passed near the main city. This main city didn't have any walls in the conventional sense, or rather, it used to have some, but they had been reduced to ruins by the erosion of history. "Or is this a PvP map? The kind without a circle?"

“There are safe zones, but the safe zone markers in this city are usually low walls and not continuous. Many people had this question during the closed beta. This floor has become the most frequent PvP area,” Kirito explained. “You’ll see in a bit. This floor is mainly for leveling up and questing… It’s similar to a place like this, Lut Gholein. You know that place, right?”

"Are you referring to the fact that a great man here built seven tombs for himself, six fake and one real, or the fact that monsters are spawning downstairs in the city lord's harem?" Upon hearing Lut Gholein's name, Thorin immediately thought of the two biggest flaws in the Diablo II map and asked this question.

He didn't realize that every time he and Kirito had this kind of conversation, Asuna, who couldn't understand a thing, would always be bored in the background and unable to join in. And this time, Yuna, who was also a gaming novice, was also there. Of course, Yuna didn't feel anything; she wasn't bored as long as Sorin was standing next to her. However, Asuna and Kirito didn't have that kind of relationship, at least not yet, so she was the first person to try to interrupt this "god-like chatter."

"Could you two please communicate in a language we can understand? What is Lut Gholein? And what's this about monsters spawning downstairs in the harem?" she asked, somewhat annoyed.

"Alright, alright." Kirito shrugged helplessly, then answered Sorin's question, "It's the latter. Of course, it's not that the lord's harem here exploded; it's just that there's a monster-spawning ruin underground in this city. From the second level onwards, this ruin isn't a safe zone, and it spawns things like zombies, ghosts, and spirits..."

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Asuna screamed upon hearing Kirito's description. "Don't... don't bring up those things all of a sudden!"

"I didn't expect you to be afraid of those supernatural things. You really are a little girl." Sorin had just made that comment when she suddenly noticed that Yuna's expression wasn't good either, so she quickly changed her tune, "Don't say that, Kirito. The ladies obviously don't like this kind of thing, you hear me?"

"..." Kirito didn't want to comment on this guy whose integrity was practically equivalent to the Schrödinger family's master anymore, but he still stopped the topic and sent a private message to Sorin.

What should I do if I encounter zombies or ghosts while fighting monsters?

I don't understand what's so scary about spirit puppets or monsters, so I'm currently worried about this too.

Sorin shook his head, and after replying with that message, his thoughts immediately drifted back to the previous boss battle. He had paid close attention to the fact that, aside from the fact that the troublemaker in the first layer, Fang Wang, didn't seem to have much malicious intent, the three voices in the second layer accusing Nezuha of PK, the third layer spreading rumors within Diabel's team that Sorin's actions were inappropriate, and the fourth layer questioning whether Kirito had ulterior motives, were clearly all from the same person. And although this person was a green-named individual, they were very likely the person from the unknown red-named guild who had infiltrated those two guilds.

This further strengthened Solin's resolve to eliminate these red-named individuals. However, he currently does not know how many people they have, their usual activity range, or how many of them are lurking in various guilds. Gathering this information will take time.

"Looking back now, there's been quite a lot going on... We have to find out which place is the koi farm, take down these red-named players, and race against time to clear the area and fight the boss... Let's just take it one step at a time."

77. On the Eve of Conflict

It might be a coincidence. Every time Sorin reached a new floor, it was already close to dusk or dark. At night, the monsters' abilities would be significantly enhanced, and visibility would be poor, so he rarely hunted monsters at night, even though the rewards were higher.

"So let's call it a day. I'll take Yuna to that place you mentioned, the bar or dessert shop... I haven't figured out how to combine the two places yet." Sorin glanced at the time, then looked up and said, "Tomorrow is free time. I need to discuss some things with the presidents of those two guilds. By the way, that rumor about the boss dropping a key item has spread at least two levels. What exactly is it?"

"Let me think... It's something called [Guild Flag]. Its effect is to provide a buff to members of the same guild within a 30-meter radius. The strength of this buff is at least as good as Yuna's current level." Kirito thought for a while before answering the question. "This is crucial for us. If we can get this, we can at least push through two more floors without having to change our equipment."

"I understand." Sorin nodded, then fell into thought. This item was indeed urgent and crucial, but the Red Name Society, lurking somewhere unknown, remained a significant threat. The current situation was like holding a fatal blow while facing the Shadow of Death and Tamoev, a very difficult predicament.

This dilemma lasted all night. Sorin still took Yuna all over the city of ruins, satisfying the latter's curiosity, but it wasn't quite as enjoyable as she thought.

"I always feel like I can't help you with anything, Sorin." After returning to their residence on the fourth floor, Yuna sat on the bed and said somewhat dejectedly, "Don't you feel like I'm a burden to you?"

When Suolin heard what Yuna said, he was first taken aback, then smiled helplessly and gently rubbed Yuna's head.

"Don't be so insecure. Just having you by my side is enough to ignite my fighting spirit, not to mention you're quite strong yourself. As for not being able to help me..." His gentle tone was full of doting affection, "The reality of the Death Game is very heavy, and I would never let you get your hands dirty to help me. That's not gentlemanly."

"Turn off the lights and go to sleep. Don't think about so much. You've already tried your best."

------

"I noticed that your team wasn't involved in the last raid, or rather, only Kirito and Asuna were included. What are you guarding against? Is it the red-name guild you mentioned before?"

Diabel took a sip of his black tea and then looked at Solin. Ya Wang, with his legs crossed and a can of beer in his hand, didn't speak, but he looked at Solin in a similar way.

He thought about it more deeply. Because the fundamental purpose of the Aincrad Liberation Army was to involve more people in the conquest process, unlike the Edelweiss which practiced a purely elite system, their personnel were the most diverse. Among such a diverse group, identifying which individuals were informants for the red-named organization was even more difficult.

“That’s it. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is the third time that guild has tried to sow discord between our raiding group.” Sorin placed his hands on the table and explained his previous conclusions one by one. “In the second floor, Nezhar’s enhancement scam was taught to him by someone else. According to the description, it was a mysterious person hiding in a raincoat, not much different from the people I saw when I was attacked that day. And in the third floor, that guy named PoH in the Fang King team almost caused our whole team to be wiped out. In the fourth floor, someone spread a rumor that the BOSS would drop rare items, which made your two groups join forces to launch the raid ahead of schedule.”

“That’s right, that’s exactly it. And if you haven’t been hiding anything from us, the boss on the fourth floor didn’t drop anything special.” Diabel replied in a deep voice, “I never considered that this would happen before, but since you’ve brought this up for discussion, we must come to a conclusion, right?”

“That’s right, Brother Solin. And if you’re not bragging, you’ve already fought them and killed two of them?” Ya Wang’s tone remained the same, but as a guild leader with a more complicated guild membership, he was indeed more worried about this kind of thing. “Then what can we do with these bastards? We can’t just kill them all like you did.”

“That’s what I mean. My intelligence agents will locate their strongholds, and then we’ll gather the strength of the three major guilds to wipe them out in one fell swoop. This is a war, and it will be bloody.” Sorin’s expression was serious, and his words made Diabel and Ya Wang break out in a cold sweat. “There may be other ways, but for someone like me from a military family, this is the best way I can think of.”

"Have you considered how many capable people who could participate in the strategy would die in this battle if we do this?" Diabel couldn't help but question. "We don't have many people to begin with, and the death of each person is a huge loss to the strategy group. What's more, we are just players, not an army. Do you expect those game nerds who have never even killed a chicken to fight a bunch of well-trained and conscious murderers with bayonets?"

“I said there are better ways to propose. This is a big problem that must be dealt with now.” When Sorin said this, he did consider the situation that Diabel mentioned, but after a brief hesitation, he still insisted on his opinion. “Someone in our country once said, ‘To fight external enemies, one must first pacify the internal situation.’ Although the background of this statement is rather ridiculous, I think that under such circumstances, it is indeed necessary to deal with the internal crisis before proceeding with the next step of the strategy.”

“I think it’s possible. The Aincrad Liberation Army has no cowards and can mobilize quite a few people.” To Sorin’s surprise, Ya Wang was quite supportive of Sorin’s opinion. “However, as you also said, we and Mr. Diabel’s men have those red-named dogs among us. We can’t just conduct an internal screening before going into battle, can we?”

"I'll leave this matter to you. Anyway, we at Edelweiss don't have anyone like that. Judging from the last attack, their people don't really have a clear understanding of my combat strength." As soon as Solin finished speaking, his expression suddenly turned scary, and his tone became urgent as he said the next sentence, "I have to leave for a while, so I'll trouble you two to consider this matter carefully."

After saying that, he rushed out of the restaurant where the party was taking place. Diabel glanced carefully at the direction Sorin had left and saw that he was running towards the underground ruins in the city. And there could only be one thing that could make Sorin so anxious.

“There’s no time to eliminate those informants with red names now, Ya Wang. Call everyone you can and gather them at the entrance of the underground ruins.” He decisively instructed, “This might be an opportunity.”

78. The Coffin in the Shadows

An hour ago, in the fifth-level main city of Karluin.

"I want to try to prove that I can stand on my own now, at least I don't need to rely on Kirito's help anymore."

Asuna said this, and judging from her equipment, she certainly had the confidence to say such a thing. Yuna listened quietly to her, occasionally revealing a faint smile.

"So, Miss Asuna, are you planning to confront the ghosts, zombies, or other monsters in the catacombs?" Yuna asked. She was wearing a full set of leather armor instead of her usual clothes this time, a special request from Asuna, though Yuna wasn't entirely sure why.

"To be precise, I'm taking you along. Having someone with you might increase your resistance to those mysterious things." Asuna tugged at Yuna's sleeve, her eyes full of anticipation. "Let's go. It's okay, I'll protect you for Sorin."

Yuna was initially worried about the red names, but seeing Asuna's expectant eyes, she agreed.

"Okay, then. We'll go back as soon as we finish all the tasks." She glanced at her task list, which contained four catacombs-related tasks, and replied, "There should only be four tasks."

These four tasks are not as ruthless as killing Rodament, finding all three artifacts, opening the Mysterious Sanctuary, or killing Duriel. They are just two item-finding tasks and two simple enemy-killing tasks.

The search and rescue mission was quite easy. Although the underground floor still had that eerie atmosphere, it was somewhat diluted by the people gathered on the first floor searching for relics, commonly known as scavenging. Therefore, the first two missions were completed without much effort.

Of course, this lively atmosphere disappeared on the lower level. After walking a few steps, a sign appeared in front of the two of them: "Continue forward to the outer edge of the safe zone, be careful." After passing the sign, a system message appeared in front of them: "You have left the safe zone."

"Monsters will probably appear soon," Asuna said, cautiously scanning her surroundings. Yuna, on the other hand, considered that sound was also part of the intelligence in this environment, so she didn't rush to activate her buff.

A constant rustling sound came from all around. Yuna guessed that the sound was coming from either rats or scarabs, which are also the two most common monsters in ruins. She was in a much better mood than Asuna, and while she was on guard, she still had the energy to activate her enemy detection skill to find monsters. Asuna, on the other hand, was already in a state where she would get flustered at the slightest disturbance.