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

"Hey, hey, hey, that's enough..."

As Suolin walked through the forest, he had regained his professionalism as a streamer, and his commentary became more professional. Of course, since there were now two commentators in this live stream, even though Youna didn't interact much with the viewers, it was gradually turning from a SAO mini-lecture into a comedy troupe.

"Sorin, what are the characteristics of the monsters here?" Yuna stood guard beside Sorin, holding a rapier. So far, no monsters had appeared, but she was still not letting her guard down. "I heard that the monsters here also have certain puzzle-solving mechanisms."

"That's right. The monster that appears here is the [Out-of-Control Mathematician]. When a player draws the monster's aggro, a math problem of varying difficulty will appear above its head."

As Solin was explaining, he suddenly found two monsters appearing in front of him. He volunteered to go to them, continuing his explanation as he went.

"If the question is answered correctly, it will instantly kill the monster. If the answer is wrong, its health and attack power will double. If the question is simple, we can kill it by answering the question, but if this one…"

As he said this, he saw the image of the "out-of-control mathematician" flash twice above his head, followed by the line: "Judgment: If f(x) is differentiable in the real number range, then the absolute value of f(x) is also differentiable in the real number range. Is this correct?"

“If that’s the case, we usually choose to send him straight to see Newton.” Thorin said viciously, then with a shield charge, he swept the creature away with dual daggers in a flurry of attacks. “Damn it… how did I even pass advanced calculus back then?”

There's a tree in university called Advanced Mathematics; countless senior students have fallen from grace on this tree.

The puzzles were so challenging that the streamer resorted to even more hardcore puzzle-solving methods.

"Hey, Sorin, mine seems pretty simple." After a long pause, the [Out-of-Control Mathematician] above Yuna's head flashed a 1+1=? Come on, she said a 2 and instantly killed the monster. "What's yours?"

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.” Solin glossed over the question simply, but his tone was still somewhat resentful as he gritted his teeth and said, “I wish there were no advanced mathematics, no linear algebra, and no probability in heaven.”

"It sounds so complicated. Should I be glad I chose humanities?" Yuna said softly. "So how much longer are we going to fight here?"

"It depends on when we unlock the whole map. We'll just have to grind it out slowly." Sorin sighed and continued walking forward. "Is the green area all forest...? I think I can guess what the other areas will be like."

This monster-hunting process took about an hour. Of course, Solin could occasionally hear music during the breaks, so it wasn't too boring. After an hour, Solin picked up the last map fragment from the ground, put it in his backpack, and used the map fragments to turn them into a complete map, overlaying it on his original minimap.

This map is more detailed than the original minimap, marking the location of every tree, every safe zone in the wild, and every village, including the path from the green area to the red area.

"So we can see that if we take the central maze area as the center, we and this passage are exactly on the same radius circle. So now we just need to draw a line to determine our next route. Yuna, activate enemy detection and go around the monsters."

Sorin put down the map, uttered those words, and then stealthily headed towards the area he had marked. Yuna followed behind him, occasionally reminding him of the presence of monsters in the vicinity.

This pace of progress was quite fast; they reached the bottom of the passage in less than half an hour. Solin looked up and saw a towering wall stretching as far as the eye could see at the boundary between the red and green areas; the passage lay right before them.

"On that day, humanity finally remembered the terror of being once dominated by them, and the humiliation of being imprisoned in a birdcage." Sorin looked at the high wall and suddenly sighed, "Thinking about it carefully, our current situation is really similar to that of those humans living inside the high walls."

“Indeed, and we’re like the Survey Corps now, fighting not only for ourselves, but also for everyone trapped in the game.” Yuna sensed Sorin’s emotions, and she walked over to him, ruffling his full head of silver hair as he often did. “It’s okay, Sorin is amazing, I know.”

Solin squinted, seemingly enjoying the feeling. After a while, he realized what was happening, quickly shook his head, and used his left hand to tidy up his messy hair a little.

“Let’s look at this puzzle first.” He pointed to the red light barrier and walked to its base. The barrier contained thirty-six red and green gems arranged in a regular 6x6 grid. Below them was a sentence.

【Every row and column 3 reds and 3 greens】

[never 3-in-a-row]

"Three red gems and three green gems in each row and column, and you can't put three of the same color in a row, right?" Sorin glanced at it and understood the meaning of the puzzle, and also saw its origin. "Replacing flies and maggots with red gems and green gems is really thoughtful."

Without hesitation, he pressed several of the gems, arranging the entire pattern as required. At that moment, the pattern flashed with a red and green light, and then the entire light barrier suddenly disappeared, allowing Sorin to see what lay behind it.

"Well... just as I expected..."

99. Escape Room (Part 1)

What Solin had anticipated... was that if the green area was all forest, then the red area would only be mountains. But when he saw the scene on the other side, he was so overwhelmed by the realistic design that he didn't know where to begin criticizing it.

The only scenery there was red mountains and hills, rising and falling, completely barren—a typical desolate wilderness. The red almost completely filled Solin's vision, making him feel slightly dizzy.

“Sorin, there’s nothing here,” Yuna remarked from the side. “Why does this area look so desolate?”

[Following this logic, the blue areas would all be sea and islands, the white areas would only be endless plains, and the black areas would all be swamps and dead trees, right?]

[Friends in the live stream, welcome to enjoy the famous painting "Little Red Bursting Earth"]

[That little red character is so relatable!]

“On the bright side, there are mountains here. And the monsters that spawn here will appear directly in our field of vision, unless they are monsters on the reverse slope.” Sorin thought about how to whitewash this place where it was obvious that the design was lazy, but after thinking for a long time, he didn’t know where to start. “In addition, in this way, we only need to find a high place to gain a view of a large area, and it will be easier to find that villa.”

Yuna seemed to have no intention of dwelling on the matter any longer. However, soon after they reached a high point, they discovered a small house at the foot of the mountain.

"Is that it? It looks so small." Yuna pointed to the small house and asked hesitantly.

"According to the theorem of perspective, although this room looks small, it may not actually be." Solin carefully examined the slope and suddenly realized that he could probably descend it in a very powerful way.

So he quietly walked up to Yuna, suddenly picked her up around the waist, and whispered a question in her ear.

"Yuna, have you ever ridden a roller coaster?"

"No, what's wrong? Ughhhhhh!" Yuna had only managed to answer half a sentence when she saw Sorin carrying her to the side of what was more like a cliff than a slope, and then sliding down in a flying tackle. The rest of her words turned into screams.

"Isn't it cool? Want to learn?" Sorin's hearty laughter mixed with Yuna's screams echoed throughout the red zone. He felt the wind whistling past his ears, the scenery blurring before his eyes, and the powerful feeling of weightlessness that followed.

After more than thirty seconds of sliding downhill, this unforgettable roller coaster ride finally came to an end.

The streamer made the choice that every Insect Glaive player would make, but unfortunately there was no dragon for him to ride.

[If you don't have a dragon, you can ride a pretty girl! (lol)]

[You don't understand, the girl is a user of the Insect Glaive.]

The two people upstairs probably have such wild imaginations that all they have above their necks is a ring.

"The hymn to humanity is the hymn to courage! The greatness of humanity lies in the greatness of courage! And this is the embodiment of courage!"

After letting loose, Sorin was still laughing heartily, while Yuna leaned against Sorin, her eyes sparkling.

"I... Sorin, you're bullying me!" Yuna's steps were still a little unsteady. She tried to stand on her own, but the intense feeling of weightlessness she had experienced earlier made it difficult for her to maintain her balance on the ground.

"Be careful." Sorin quickly took a step forward, supporting Yuna's back with his right hand.

"I don't care, just carry me away."

"Alright, alright." Solin shook his head helplessly and picked up Yuna in a princess carry once again.

Yuna obediently wrapped her arms around Sorin's neck and rested her head on his shoulder. This posture looked even more intimate, and of course, many viewers now choose to watch this scene from a third-person perspective.

The distance from here to the villa wasn't far, and Solin's current attributes allowed him to be so carefree. When he arrived at the villa's entrance, Solin felt a lightness in his hands, and the hands that had been wrapped around his neck were no longer there.

"Let's go, I'm ready." Yuna smiled at Sorin, then took his hand. "Let's go, it's already afternoon."

Solin nodded and followed Yuna's footsteps. He was quite familiar with the layout of this villa, to the point that it was as familiar as that unfortunate café on the second floor.

"I'm seriously shocked, Chicago mansions are alright..." Solin muttered to himself, "How unwilling do they really are to make maps..."

"Are you familiar with this place, Sorin?" Yuna had just asked this question when she suddenly felt uneasy. "Sorin, I feel like there's something wrong with this room."

"I could navigate this house with my eyes closed, what could be wrong with it? I don't believe this place could cause any trouble for me..."

However, as soon as Solin uttered those words, his screen went black. He heard rustling sounds, like watching a CG cutscene. After about three minutes of black screen, Solin's vision returned.

"Yuna? Yuna! Where are you?" Sorin called out in a panic when he didn't see Yuna at first glance. However, he received no reply; the room remained silent.

You and your companion arrive at the villa in Pasagrus, intending to find the next clue to the Golden Cube. However, upon entering the villa, a mysterious force causes you to fall unconscious. When you awaken, you find yourself in an unfamiliar room, and your companion has vanished.

You realize something is wrong, but your priority right now is to get out of this locked room and find your companion.

You have received a special mission: Requiem.

[In this mission, all your skills and equipment will have no effect. This mission will disable All Illusions, All Permissions, and Kaleidoscope.]

No items, including crystals, can be used in this mission.

[Task Objective 1: Leave the work area]

[Mission Objective 2: Find Yuna]

"...Okay, so this is an escape room game, right? It really fits the walkthrough pattern for this floor. Why didn't Kirito tell me there would be such a ridiculous game mode?!"

After uttering a couple of complaints, Sorin forced himself to calm down. He didn't know what situation Yuna was in, and he needed to get out of this workshop as soon as possible to find her.

He stood up and walked to the most prominent workbench in the room. On the workbench was a ten-sided Rubik's Cube, one side of which had the white background and blue coat of arms of the Paisagros family, with a sentence written in the lower right corner: "The law is only a means, not a true solution."

You have obtained an unfinished Rubik's Cube.

"To put it simply, all escape room puzzles can be categorized as finding keys to open doors. We don't see anything that looks like a key on the surface right now, but one of the drawers in this workspace can be opened. Let's see what's inside."

As Sorin spoke, he opened the only one of the three drawers that was open, and took out a key and a piece of paper with a black background and the Paisagros family crest drawn in blue on it.

You have obtained Key #1.

You have received the words of Dimir.

[Optional Mission Objective 1: Find the "Ten Alliance Maxims"]

100. Escape Room (Part 2) (Bonus Chapter 7/75)

Sorin took out the Rubik's Cube and the "Proverbs of Dimir". He took a closer look and found that the "Proverbs of Dimir" was classified as a "Quest Item - Consumable". So he tried to see if he could use it on the "Unfinished Rubik's Cube".

Sure enough, after he clicked the use button, the "Words of Dimir" disappeared from his hand, and on the other side of the Rubik's Cube, a blue city logo on a black background appeared on the previously blank surface, with an additional sentence below: "It is easy to listen to people's words, but difficult to understand their hearts."

"Interesting, it seems these messages are all meant to criticize the relevant guilds. Next, let's try opening the door with the key... OK, it's open."

Solin inserted the number one key he had obtained into the lock, and then the key disappeared. Then there was a "click" sound, and the previously closed workshop door was now unlocked.

You have completed task objective 1: Leave the work area.

[Mission Objective 1 Updated: Proceed to the First Floor]

He opened the door and stepped out, observing his surroundings. Both staircases leading downstairs were blocked by a layer of light barrier. Sorin tried touching the one closest to him and received the message: "Insufficient conditions to proceed."

"It seems we can only go to the first floor after receiving the corresponding instructions on the second floor. And we still don't know where Yuna is being held."

Solin organized his thoughts and then decided to check out the other rooms first. Besides the workroom, there were three other rooms on the second floor: a children's bedroom, a master bedroom, and a bathroom. Of course, Solin didn't yet know their names within the villa.

He thought for a moment and decided to try the door in front of him first, based on the principle of proximity. The door wasn't locked, and Solin easily pushed it open.

The room was simply furnished. There was a chair in the center, two windows, and several bookshelves that occupied all the walls except for the windows.

"It's a very typical study design. In ancient times, people often recited aloud in a room that had nothing but books. Interestingly, most Westerners think that silent reading is a magical thing. Currently, apart from that Rubik's Cube, we haven't seen anything about the previous city lord. It can be said that the information on this aspect is still blank."

They continued explaining while searching, but after acquiring several books, Solin discovered that both the covers and the contents were pixelated, making them unreadable. This suggested two possibilities: either none of the books offered any clues, or only books containing clues or those that could be investigated were uncensored.

Of course, compared to his analysis, his explanations were clearly not as serious.

"So we can boldly guess that this former city lord was actually a repressed pervert, with his bookshelves filled with erotic books. And since this game is R15, all the books containing erotic content have been censored. Okay, we've finally found a relatively decent one in this ocean of erotic books, let me take a look..."

The book's cover read "One Hundred Numerical Puzzles," and below it was listed the author as the vanished former city lord, Paisagros. Sorin opened it and read a couple of pages, discovering that the city lord, besides researching these numerical puzzles, was also quite accomplished in mathematics. However, his current focus was clearly elsewhere, as he noticed that some pages in the book were movable.