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

"I'm suddenly getting curious about Suolin's daily life. I heard from them that you're a full-time streamer, so does your job just involve staying home and playing games every day?"

Yuna's idea was quite simple. Since she and Sorin knew almost nothing about each other's current situation, and she was also very curious about Sorin's daily life, she asked the question.

"That's not entirely accurate, because my real job is playing Magic: The Gathering, but when I'm streaming, I'm just playing various games," Sorin patiently explained to Yuna. "I have long-term visas for several countries, which makes it easy for me to travel around the world to play in tournaments, so I don't actually spend much time at home."

"Then I can go out and play with you everywhere in the future, right?" Yuna felt particularly excited when she heard this. "I've never been outside Japan before."

“However, the country I’ve actually visited the most is Japan, as I’ve told you. I was thinking before that maybe I should find a relatively stable job that doesn’t require me to travel all over the world after I go abroad, but seeing how much you’re looking forward to it… there’s probably no need for that.” Sorin smiled and nodded, her hands still busy, cutting off a piece from the whole fish in front of her, forking it, and putting it to Yuna’s mouth. “Try this first. Of the fish you caught on the fourth floor, I picked out a few of the ones that looked pretty high-end and had them cooked at this restaurant.”

"Mmm." Yuna leaned her head forward slightly, then took a small bite of the fish and chewed it slowly.

"Eat slowly, there are still plenty of fish. You were lucky that day." Suolin cut a small piece of fish for himself as well. "Think about the last time we went out to sea from Yantai, nine people with eleven rods in total, and we caught less than ten pounds in the whole afternoon. I've never seen such bad luck on the Volga River."

“It sounds like you’ve been through a lot, Sorin. Actually, I’ve always envied people like you who have traveled to many places, while I just study at school every day. Even when I travel, it’s usually to places like Hokkaido or Kansai.” Yuna’s expression suddenly darkened as she said this. “My father works at a research institute. He’s a professor, and I heard that Kayaba Akihiko is one of his students. But he’s very busy, and he rarely has time to travel with me during my holidays.”

“Then your father must have been a very capable man.” Solin nodded in admiration, then his expression suddenly turned somewhat gloomy. “My father was a soldier. He left me when I was four years old and left me with his comrade-in-arms who lived in Vladivostok.”

“Then he…” Yuna said halfway through unconsciously, then remembered the strange behavior of Sorin when he mentioned him a few times before, and quickly stopped.

"He died for his country. When I was nine years old."

114. YUNA, I ? U (Bonus Chapter 16/75)

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Yuna looked at Sorin, who had suddenly become somber, and felt a little lost.

"I'm sorry, Sorin..." Yuna said cautiously, "I..."

"It's nothing serious. Even the deepest wounds fade with time, and I'm used to it now." Sorin wasn't actually as Yuna imagined, because he knew what was going on, but he couldn't tell Yuna, just like no one had told him his father was still alive before the Rainbow Squad launched the SAO rescue operation. "I'm fine, because it's been so long. He hasn't existed in my life since I was four, so it doesn't really matter anymore. Even if it wasn't you who unintentionally brought it up now, it wouldn't affect me much."

Yuna didn't dare say a word more than necessary. Although Sorin didn't seem particularly agitated, it was true that she had unintentionally hurt him. She lowered her head and listlessly dissected the fish dish in front of her with her knife.

"Let's eat. After all, it's not a good thing to let a trivial problem ruin a wonderful dinner." Suolin pretended to be relaxed (not really), and forked another piece of fish. "To be honest, it's a waste for us to come here. When I was having dinner with a girl I just met, I was thinking of eating something more elegant, like Western food. But after we got to know each other better, all I wanted to do was eat at a street stall or have some skewers on the street. Maybe I'm just a common person by nature."

He tried to steer the conversation back on track in a lighthearted manner, but Yuna, who had just inadvertently said the wrong thing, had been acting cautiously all evening, making him feel somewhat awkward. After the dishes on the table had become empty plate after plate, Sorin paid the bill, took Yuna back to their sixth-floor apartment, and then took two deck chairs to the rooftop.

"Alright, Yuna, don't worry about the details. I told my teammates I wanted to hear the New Year's bells from the sixth floor." Sorin sat comfortably in the recliner, looking up at the night sky. "Yura said he wanted to set off fireworks for New Year's Eve. He went to the fifth floor to buy some earlier, so he should be setting them up now."

"Fireworks... It's been so long since I've seen fireworks." Yuna's expectant voice came from his side. She was lying on another recliner, occasionally stealing glances at Sorin's profile.

“Me too. Do you know how hilarious Harbin has been these past few years?” Suolin suddenly burst out laughing as she said this. “Last year around the Lunar New Year, I saw a banner hanging over the West Railway Station. Guess what it said?”

“…I never would have guessed. When I was learning Chinese, I always thought those couplets and slogans were really magical.” You Na thought for a while, then shook her head. “The one that impressed me the most was the warning they gave when they were driving in ‘The Wandering Earth,’ something about two lines of tears or something.”

"【There are thousands of roads, but safety is the first priority. Reckless driving will bring tears to your loved ones】. It's a movie from three years ago... though it's not exactly an old film. Back then, they wrote a rule: 【Dare to set off a string of firecrackers, 15 days in detention】, and then I heard the specific regulation was that fireworks and firecrackers were not allowed within the Fourth Ring Road... I lived in Harbin for eight years and never even heard of the Fourth Ring Road." Suolin laughed as she spoke, "So it's quite lucky that we can still see fireworks here. Maybe this is the miracle you were talking about."

“But just like you said, the greatest miracle is meeting you here, Sorin.” Yuna sighed, “Promise me you’ll live well, I’m still waiting for you to take me out to play.”

“Once we get out of here, I’ll take you all over the world, to Cleveland, London, New Jersey, Portland…” he said, looking up at the sky with some anticipation. “But for now, let’s wait for a surprise, a surprise I’ve carefully prepared for you.”

In front of him was a chat box, not the guild channel, but several private chats.

[SorinMarkov: Are the fireworks ready, Yura?]

[Jura: Got the president on my side, just came up from the fifth floor]

[SorinMarkov: Nice work. Thank you for your hard work.]

"Really? Should I look forward to it?" Yuna replied with a smile. "I'm really curious about what the surprise is."

"Anyway, I don't want to give away any spoilers. If I told you beforehand, it wouldn't be a surprise." Solin remained mysterious, lying there comfortably.

Time ticked by, and the two chatted about many things—their daily lives, habits, and generally just casual conversation. Sorin had a very rich leisure life, or rather, he could say that every single hour of the day was a leisure day, so what he talked about was often things Yuna had never heard of before.

"23:59:30, that should be about right." Solin glanced at the time, then sat up from the recliner, walked to Youna, bowed slightly, and took Youna's hand to help her get up from the recliner.

"The New Year is almost here, and I've been looking forward to that surprise for a long time."

"Don't rush, count down with me." Solin's voice was as gentle as ever, "Three, two, one—show me the flowers."

As soon as he finished speaking, beams of light shot from the ground into the sky in Stachion's Sudoku Square, blooming in mid-air and forming a row of large letters.

【YUNA, I?U】

"How about that? Surprised? Unexpected?" Solin pointed proudly at the obviously custom-made firework pattern and laughed smugly.

To his surprise, Yuna didn't react at all for a long time. After a while, a faint, almost inaudible voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Solin, squat down a little, and then lower your head."

Upon hearing this, Solin instinctively lowered his head, only to feel something soft pressing against his lips. Unfortunately, there was no live stream, so no one could record the moment. Of course, Solin himself didn't care about this small regret; he was already satisfied with convincing You in person right now.

After a long while, their lips parted, but Sorin still couldn't bear to let go of the girl in his arms. Yuna breathed softly in Sorin's arms, and after a while, she whispered in Sorin's ear.

"I love you too, Suolin... mmm..."

Chapter 115: The Archmage's Rubik's Cube (Bonus Chapter 17/75)

The sixth floor, Stachion, is the main conference room.

"We've now defeated the first two bosses, and the final boss standing in our way is the Archmage's Cube. The mechanics of this boss fight aren't complicated, but it requires very precise teamwork. I expect everyone to hear the commands promptly and react accordingly. Understand?"

After last night's revelry, everyone was surprisingly in good spirits today. Although Solin had experienced even more than them, it didn't dampen his enthusiasm.

"First, there's the Rubik's Cube boss's mechanics. After you hit it once, the area that was hit will rotate 90 degrees clockwise. And if the Rubik's Cube is solved, its armor will fall off, and its toughness will increase accordingly. Next are its skills. Every 10% of its health, it will release a rotating small Rubik's Cube, for a total of six."

As Suolin spoke, he also drew a simple diagram on the board behind him, indicating everyone's positions, and then continued.

"The small cube will move around randomly in the arena and cause a lot of damage. The main tank (MT) should use the block skill to stop the small cube as soon as possible and restrict its movement. After being blocked, the small cube will stop moving and will automatically retract after a while. Each of the six tanks is responsible for this area."

"Understood!" *6

"Then, each time the cube reaches 25% health, if it has no armor, it will attempt to charge its armor. If it successfully charges, the cube will be scrambled again and a shield will be added. The way to interrupt the charging is to look at the color it is currently flashing. Red requires two people to hit it with a disarm skill at the same time, green is a knockdown skill, and blue is a stun skill."

Sorin then looked up again and pointed at Agil, "Agil, you'll be in charge of the polearm team. And most importantly, I'll engage this boss. I'll restore the cube as quickly as possible, and then the main tank will follow up to draw aggro."

"That's all I have to say. Team A will have six tanks, led by Yura. Note that the tanks will also be responsible for stunning enemies. Team B's leader is Agil, who will be responsible for knocking down enemies. Team C's leader is Swarta, who will lead six curved swords to disarm enemies. Then Kirito will lead Team D, Asuna will lead Team E, and I will lead Team F. Now, dismissed. Meet at the South Gate in half an hour."

The response was still uniform. After leaving the conference hall, Solin found a nearby store and bought a 3x3 Rubik's Cube, which he then fiddled with in his hands.

"I haven't played for a long time and I've almost forgotten how. I hope nothing goes wrong when the time comes."

However, despite what Solin said, his skillful movements showed no sign of rustiness. The Rubik's Cube was quickly scrambled and then solved, repeating this cycle on average every thirty seconds.

"I've always admired people like you who can solve the Rubik's Cube so well, Solin."

"It's just a 3x3 Rubik's Cube. Even a complete beginner should be able to figure it out in two hours." Solin was about to say that when he remembered Yuna's reaction when she first reached the sixth floor, he swallowed back the remark that was on the tip of his tongue. "Everyone has their own strengths. For example, although I have also learned Irish bagpipes, my level is obviously not as good as yours. That's all normal."

“Okay. But you said before that after defeating the boss on this floor, the guild leader position should be handed over. I don’t quite understand.” Yuna stopped in front of Sorin, asking with some confusion, “Is there any reason why you have to do that?”

“It’s just a matter of relinquishing the guild leader position, it doesn’t mean I’m not participating in the floor strategy anymore.” Solin raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by Yuna’s question, but still patiently explained, “After all, I did lead people to take care of those red names, and in some people’s eyes, even if I killed a bunch of murderers, they still see me as one of the murderers.”

“It’s okay, Sorin. At least I understand you, and you have the other members of the guild. You don’t have to do this.” Yuna held Sorin’s left hand worriedly. She didn’t quite understand those kinds of people either, and more importantly, she didn’t want Sorin to compromise for such people.

"If I ever get the chance to see PoH again, I'll kill him on the spot." Solin sighed, and then made a few sarcastic remarks about PoH. "I'll repair the equipment, replenish all the potions and stuff, and then go wait for them at the south gate."

He did some calculations and realized that this episode and the previous one both required a lot of editing because the recording was quite fragmented. Of course, he only made this gameplay video to record his daily monster-hunting routine to avoid getting too bored. As he said before, he was making a gameplay video for a game that ultimately no one would play—what if it went viral?

A little while later, although it hadn't been half an hour yet, everyone was already standing at the south gate, ready to set off at any moment. Many ordinary players were speculating whether Edelweiss had encountered some problems during their third foray into the maze area, and influenced by the narrative deliberately created by PoH, many were also somewhat distrustful of this team that had been so active on the front lines.

"I really don't understand, these troublemakers talk so much nonsense all day long, why don't you just form a team and farm the boss yourself?" Solin complained casually. But complaining aside, the boss still had to be fought, you can't let your equipment suffer.

Due to the unique mechanics of this RAID-type maze area, monsters won't spawn in the previously completed sections, meaning progress is saved. Sorin led his team back to the Dragon Knight's room after a long run through the map, and then continued advancing to the next level. In fact, there were no more monsters on the upper levels; after reaching the third level, opening the door led to the actual boss room.

The room's floor is covered with squares of various colors, and the surrounding area is also covered with glazed tiles of similar colors. In the center of the room is a huge glass bell jar, inside which is a 3x3 Rubik's Cube, measuring three meters in length, width, and height.

"Actually, I've always wanted to complain about this boss's name. Does that archmage have an incredibly long neck that can twist, and is he all green?" Solin said, pulling out the Azure Lightning Soul from the kaleidoscope on his back. "And you can't even slack off. This thing is only disrupted when the boss is engaged."

"Guild Master, what's the fastest you can solve a level 3 puzzle?" Yura asked curiously from the side.

"Twisting by hand takes fifteen seconds. This large size might be a bit difficult, but you guys just wait here for me for about two minutes and I'll be done." Solin nodded confidently and then called out to the back.

"Everyone, get into position! I'm about to engage the monster!"

116. The Fate Ends and They Part (Bonus Chapter 18/75)

The members of the Edelweiss Guild displayed exceptional professionalism, taking their positions in less than ten seconds. Sorin stood in front of the enormous bell-shaped dome, habitually marking it, and then waited to the side.

"Countdown ready... I'm starting!" With that command, he gripped his battle staff in his right hand and thrust it forward. The blade at the tip of the staff shattered the seemingly sturdy glass bell jar, freeing the cube monster inside.

The moment the Grand Magister's Rubik's Cube came out, it shattered the entire glass bell jar. At the same time, the entire Rubik's Cube began to spin rapidly, instantly changing from a neat state to a disordered state. This change is generally called entropy increase.

"Let me see, it seems a bit messy." Solin used his battle staff to prop himself up in mid-air, and after examining all six sides, he tried to solve the Rubik's Cube in his mind while dodging its attacks. "The main problem is that this Rubik's Cube can only be turned clockwise when you're solving it, so if you want to solve it in reverse, you need to solve it three times, which is a bit troublesome."

The battle staff is arguably the best weapon to deal with this cube boss, because this boss needs a lot of movement and long-distance maneuvering to recover when the outer shell is intact in the first phase, and this kind of weapon that can jump up and down is perfect for it.

Generally, the basic method for solving a Rubik's Cube involves starting by creating a cross shape on one face, then solving the remaining four corner pieces on that face, and then solving layer by layer upwards, finally solving the four corner pieces on the top layer. However, this basic method, known as the "layer-by-layer method," is very time-consuming and requires many attempts, and Solin clearly didn't have time to deal with this unfortunate Rubik's Cube at this stage.

The scene was quite strange. The viewers in the livestream and the team members standing guard watched as Solin would occasionally jump up to look, then walk around in circles with the Rubik's Cube. The boss battle had been going on for a full minute and a half, but Solin hadn't made a single move.

"What is the boss doing?" Swata asked in a low voice, somewhat puzzled. "A 3x3 Rubik's Cube shouldn't be too difficult, right? Why hasn't he made a single move in so long?"

“He’s looking for the optimal solution. The minimum number of moves to solve a 3x3 Rubik’s Cube is currently 17. I think the president is probably looking for a method that can be solved in under 20 moves,” Lu Fei’er explained beside him. “But that’s too difficult. He has to memorize the Rubik’s Cube first, then solve it blindfolded, and then think about the minimum number of moves to solve it…”

Just then, Solin finally made his move. He quickly tapped the bottom of the Rubik's Cube twice, then leaped high into the air, accurately grabbing two corner pieces in mid-air, and then, as he fell, delivered a triple strike to the edge pieces of the middle layer.

"So here I see a 19-step method, so I won't wait any longer, I'll start solving it right away." After his brief explanation, he didn't say anything more. Although the people around him couldn't quite understand it, Solin was clearly solving the Rubik's Cube at a very steady pace.

It was supposed to be 19 steps, but because each counter-clockwise turn required three taps, it took him a full half minute to tap the entire cube thirty-seven times before he solved it. Just then, the cube emitted multicolored lights, and the colored blocks fell off, revealing a white cube hidden inside.

"Listen to me! Let me see!" He roared as he descended from the sky, his powerful vertical slash striking the core of the white Rubik's Cube. "We can go in! All main tanks, find your positions and prepare for the first wave of small Rubik's Cubes!"

From this point on, the first phase of the boss fight is considered over. However, after removing its outer armor, the cube appears exceptionally vulnerable, like a Rinpoche stripped naked. Consequently, the initial wave of attackers failed to accurately anticipate the rate of health loss, unleashing their first attack.

The Rubik's Cube core paused for a moment, then released six small cubes from its body, each of only one color. These cubes then slid directly towards the six directions with the most people, each striking a shield and stopping their aimless movement.

What was initially thought to be a team-wiping move ended rather abruptly. Not only that, even the charging skill used every 25% of health was easily interrupted by the three control teams in just a short time.

"Is that all? Is it really that simple?" Sorin sighed silently before continuing to attack the boss face-to-face. However, the boss's high difficulty during the closed beta primarily stemmed from its cube armor. If the cube armor remained intact, the time allotted for the raiding team to recharge at each 25% stage was extremely limited, and the armor would gradually stack up, often making it impossible to damage it further in the end.

To put it bluntly, it's a boss that transforms into a Rinpoche after its armor is removed. Of course, the low difficulty of this boss might be due to the fact that there are three bosses in this maze area. In any case, after about half an hour of trying to clear it, the cube still couldn't put its cube armor back on and could only be chopped into a pile of fragments.

At this point, all the members present realized a problem: the standard-bearer who had been leading them since the first floor, the leader of the Edelweiss Guild, seemed to be leaving them.

“I have never regretted solving the problem of red names for the players who are currently surviving. Originally, I thought that those players who are not involved in the front-line battles could say whatever they wanted, it was none of my business. But as you know, if I were to remain in this team as a leader, I would only cause you trouble.”

Sorin glanced at the Grand Magister's cube drop list, took out the two-handed greatsword that had dropped out and the flag he had obtained on the fifth floor, and handed them to Yura. Then he turned around and looked at his comrades in front of him.