A journey to another world starting from a sword

"Sure, but first tell me what you want to know?" Argo's question left the question of whether he would actually answer her.

"What's the reason you're painting a beard on your cheeks?" Dante said, rubbing his cheeks with his thumbs.

Logically speaking, this wasn't exactly useful intelligence, but he was subsequently targeted by Argo, and the reason was...

"Um, shouldn't I be asking girls why they wear makeup?"

"Really?" Dante asked, his eyes wide, feigning ignorance.

"Hmph, if you really want to know, just hand over 100,000 couls and I'll tell you," Argo said arrogantly, extending his hand towards Dante.

“If you offer a discount of 50,000 cor, I might consider it,” Dante said with a knowing grin, looking at Argo.

At this moment, Silica looked at Dante, her eyes wide, as if she had already realized something.

Argo, however, didn't take it seriously, saying, "Fine, fifty thousand it is."

Then she watched Dante begin to navigate the main menu, a thought popping into her head, "Hmm?"

Then Dante materialized the bag containing fifty thousand coulombs, placed it on the table, and made a dull "bang".

Argo was stunned; his mind completely went blank.

"Hmm hmm hmm!???"

Chapter 16: The Reason for Drawing a Mustache

"Here you go, fifty thousand couls." Dante pushed the purse full of silver coins off the table with both hands.

"...Huh?" Argo hadn't reacted yet, her gaze shifting back and forth between his face and the money bag.

Finally, as if giving up on thinking, she said, "Really...?"

She simply couldn't believe that a player would suddenly pull out such a huge sum of money at this stage. It was completely impossible, no, because of the man in front of her, it had become almost impossible.

“Really?” Dante looked up and smiled, his tone mocking her ignorance.

“!” Argo patted his clothes and sat down again, no longer crossing his legs, but sitting down very formally.

"How did you get this money?" Although it was hard to believe, she took a closer look at the money bag and estimated that it was indeed worth tens of thousands.

“This…” Dante looked at Silica beside him and began to tell the story of a girl who followed a cat from the church and eventually arrived at a ruin where she found a treasure chest containing 200,000 Cor.

“I see.” Argo nodded. Based on Dante’s account, she assumed that this happened during the closed beta test, or that the other party knew some official staff and had obtained inside information about this design background.

But the surprise treasure chest... I didn't know there was such a great thing! She didn't even know!!!

Argo was heartbroken!

That's two hundred thousand Cors!

"Anyway, if this isn't enough, Silica can lend you money." Dante asked Silica for her opinion with his eyes. Anyway, they wouldn't need that much money in the short term, and having a few tens of thousands on them would be enough.

“I have no problem with that,” Silica obediently replied. “Or I could give one to…”

"Shh~" Dante put his finger to his lips, signaling her not to continue.

“I’m not at the point where I’d take money from a little sister for nothing.” Argo had learned that about 200,000 Kor had been split between the two of them, and he couldn’t save face anymore, mainly because, “This amount of money is already enough.”

That was enough for her to print the first edition, with plenty to spare.

After those frontline players bought the first edition, they had the money to print the second edition.

"Anyway... thank you." Argo could tell at this point that Dante was just looking for an excuse, and she chuckled again.

After Argo put the money bag into his inventory, Dante continued, "So, what's the reason for the mustache?"

"Uh..." Argo was speechless for a moment, then stiffly turned his head back.

So this matter isn't over yet?!

-----------------

Nighttime, in a double room at a hotel.

"Are you still bothered by what happened in the maze, Asuna?" Mito asked Asuna, whose face still showed signs of unease.

"Hmm." Asuna lowered her head and sat down dejectedly on the edge of Mito's bed.

Just a few hours earlier that afternoon, they witnessed the deaths of three players in a small maze.

They triggered the treasure chest's trap, attracting a horde of kobold monsters.

Surrounded by kobolds, they let out piercing howls, born of deep-seated fear; their despair before death must have been palpable.

She wanted to rush up to save them, but Mitt stopped her.

"What happened to those people?" Asuna asked, voicing a persistent question in her mind. "Are they really dead in reality?"

Upon hearing Asuna's words, Mito frowned. "That's what Kayaba Akihiko said."

“I really can’t believe it,” Asuna shook her head. “Because their disappearance was so much like a game, how could they say they died in reality too?”

Mitt couldn't give an answer either, because she thought so too.

"Yes...you're right. I thought I knew this game very well."

Among hundreds of thousands of closed beta applications, she was incredibly lucky to be selected and become a closed beta player.

The testing period lasted throughout August.

Since it was summer vacation, I could finish all my homework and then run around freely in the world of Aincrad from morning till night.

He fought monsters again and again, wielding his scythe, and sometimes inevitably died by accident.

But after countless attempts and failures, she has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience about games.

For example, unmarked paths and shortcuts to destinations on the map, the locations of towns and villages on each floor, the types of goods in the shops, including the prices and performance of weapons sold in the shops, the conditions for quests to occur and strategies, as well as the areas where monsters appear, their combat strength, weaknesses, and so on.

Mito once thought she had enough strength and experience to help Asuna survive in this world, but the tragedy she witnessed that afternoon made her waver.

"Actually, I don't know anything at all."

only......

Mito turned to look at Asuna, "But I can guarantee one thing: I will absolutely not let Asuna die."

“The team we saw today lacked caution and composure. If they hadn’t attacked the suspicious treasure chest, they wouldn’t have run into that mess.” She analyzed the fate of the three players she encountered that afternoon with great clarity, then grasped Asuna’s hands.

"I would never do such a thing! So I will absolutely not let you, Asuna, be in danger."

Mito's assurance brought Asuna a sense of comfort. She looked up at the chandelier above her and her words were no longer heavy. "Yes, it's safe with Mito around."

“Okay, I'll keep my promise.” Mitt smiled easily, then jumped off the bed. “Come on, let’s start packing up the props. We’re going to the next village tomorrow.”

She picked up the clothes that Asuna had just bought at the clothing store in the town of Beginning, which had accidentally materialized and piled up on the bed.

Honestly, all of this is unnecessary.

The extra space in the inventory should be reserved for healing potions, and Ke'er should be used to enhance armor and weapons, according to Mitt's own approach.

However, she was still speechless when Asuna said, "Isn't it cute?" Asuna herself was also very cute when she said that.

“It’s Horuka Village, right?” Asuna nodded casually, then looked at Mito, ran her hand through her hair, and an idea popped into her head. “Ah, wait a moment.”

"Hmm?" Mito turned her head in confusion, then Asuna undid her ponytail and put the hair tie in her mouth. "Ah... for a haircut, just order from the menu..."

“That would be so boring.” Asuna ignored Mito’s resistance and pulled her over to her side.

"Ah..." Mito shrank back awkwardly, letting Asuna tidy up her long purple hair with her hands. "It feels weird."

This is the first time anyone other than her mother has ever braided her hair. Even her friends have never done it before. No, her only friend now is Asuna.

"Don't move," Asuna gently instructed.

"Yes, yes." Mitt had no choice but to obey.

“This is a rare opportunity, let’s get a pair.” Asuna suddenly said while combing Mito’s hair.

Her current hairstyle is also styled by Mitt herself in real life; it's a fishtail braid princess hairstyle.

"Eh? This hairstyle only suits Asuna. I don't like this kind of cute hairstyle at all..."

"Okay, okay," Asuna chuckled softly, thinking that Mito also suited this cute hairstyle.

Besides, wouldn't having the same hairstyle make us look more like friends?

The next day, the two left the starting town with nearly identical hairstyles and began their journey to the next village, Horuka Village.

Chapter 17: Swift Ratmen

This is a shortcut to Horuka Village; by taking only a mountain path, Asuna and Mito can save a lot of time.

"Ah!" However, a protruding rock almost tripped Asuna, who was focused on the game menu.

"Hey, are you alright?" Mito quickly grabbed Asuna's wrist.

"Yes, thank you." Asuna looked at her feet with lingering fear and then turned to Mito.

"Honestly, the message can wait until later." After pulling her up, Mitt sighed helplessly.

“But replying to messages promptly is basic etiquette, isn’t it?” Asuna chuckled, unconcerned by Mito’s lecture. “Besides, Silica-chan was just asking me when I’d arrive in Horuka Village.”

As she spoke, she made a move in her friend's message bar and then sent it.

"All right!"

“Silica… ah, the little girl who was with that man.” Mitt thought for a moment before realizing it.

"Mite is really something, we just met not long ago," Asuna retorted, speechless.

"Sorry, sorry. But it wasn't just recently, it's been quite a few days." Mitt shrugged. She hadn't opened her friends list in a long time, because her only true friend was right in front of her.

"Yes, Silica-chan and Mr. Dante are still in Horuka Village. Apparently, they defeated the bear boss in the cave a few days ago and cleared the path to the next village."

"What bear BOSS?" Mito pricked up his ears, keenly sensing the oddity in Asuna's words, and immediately pressed for an answer.

"It's the bear boss in the cave." Asuna tilted her head in surprise.

“…” Mite opened his mouth speechlessly, not knowing what to say. The cave should refer to the cave north of Horuka Village, which is the only way to reach the final stronghold “Torbana” from the west.

In her memory, there were no bosses in the caves north of Horuka, which was why she took Asuna westward, so they could go directly to "Torbana".

The addition of a bear boss that wasn't present during the closed beta to the cave further exacerbated her unease.

Perhaps the game's designer, Akihiko Kayaba, didn't want to see these closed beta testers have it all go smoothly, thus ruining his interest in exploring this world.

"What's wrong, Mito?" Asuna asked, looking at Mito who had suddenly fallen silent.

"N-nothing." Pushing aside her thoughts, Mito shook her head and smiled at Asuna. "Let's keep going."

But she added with concern, "Small carnivorous plants can appear around here, so be careful."

"Carnivorous plant?" Asuna quickly caught up with Mito, who was walking ahead. "I remember that in reality, carnivorous plants are pitcher plants."

“Yes, but in SAO it’s a carnivorous herbivorous monster, and it’s quite large. But we’ve leveled up quite a bit, so it’s not a threat anymore.” Mite nodded in response, then seemed to remember something and said, “I remember there’s a quest in Horuka Village where the most important item, ‘Small Carnivorous Plant Ovules,’ can only be obtained from flowering carnivorous plants.”

However, according to what she had heard, the appearance rate of the Flower Monster seemed to be extremely low, and the chance of the Flower version appearing would only increase by repeatedly defeating ordinary man-eating plants.

However, there is one thing we need to pay special attention to at this time.

Thinking of this, Mito turned to Asuna and reminded her, "Besides the flower version, another type of man-eating plant with round fruits will appear. Be very careful and absolutely do not attack it."

"Why?" Asuna asked, puzzled.

"Because when the fruit is attacked, it will emit smoke, attracting other companions and gathering a large group of monsters that will make it impossible to escape."

This guy is what's called a "trap".

If the fruit is accidentally hit during battle, it will break open with a loud noise and release a pungent-smelling smoke.

Although the smoke is neither toxic nor corrosive, it has the troublesome property of summoning other carnivorous plants over a wide area.

If the carnivorous plants in the area have been mostly cleared out, then not many carnivorous plants will come near; otherwise, a large number of them might gather and be difficult to deal with.

Asuna nodded solemnly at Mito's warning, "I will be careful."

When she looked past Mitt's body and into the distance, she saw tiny colored cursors appearing in her field of vision.

The cursor color is red, representing a monster, but it's a little lighter; it should be called light red.

Based on the intensity of the red color, players can roughly judge the relative strength of the enemy.