A journey to another world starting from a sword

For her size, this was just right to avoid contact between the relatively soft fatty parts of her body and the rather hard muscle parts of the other person.

As she collapsed, a wave of exhaustion surged from deep within her body. She pressed her face against Dante's shoulder blade, recalling how, with that irritating voice, her left calf had been severed from the knee down, the cut surface scattering bright red light representing blood.

"But the limb will grow back soon, so don't worry," Dante reassured her.

"How long exactly?" Asuna asked, peeking out from over her shoulder.

"Three to five minutes? Who knows?" Dante said uncertainly, ignoring the damp heat and itching around his ears.

"Waiting on the grass for a little while won't hurt, will it?" Asuna muttered softly in a voice that Dante could barely hear.

"If you don't want to warm yourself by the fireplace, but instead want to lie on the cold grass..."

"Stop talking." Dante was interrupted by Asuna before he could finish speaking. "I want to warm myself by the fireplace."

After saying that, she collapsed again, surrendering her entire weight to someone.

Although the warmth from their bodies made Asuna not feel particularly cold, she... simply wanted to warm herself by the fire.

"Okay~ okay~" Dante replied helplessly, then reached out and opened the door on the first floor of the farmhouse. The NPCs should be asleep by now.

The living room was dark, and the fireplace had long since gone out, leaving no warmth.

But with just a click, it can be reignited immediately—that's the convenience of games.

Dante placed Asuna on a rocking chair near the fireplace, then knelt down in front of the fireplace and relit the fire.

"It's so warm." Asuna couldn't help but exclaim at the warmth that was different from before.

She couldn't say for sure which one was warmer.

Miraculously, the anxiety I felt about tomorrow has disappeared.

Dante sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, and the two of them quietly watched the flickering firelight, enjoying the tranquility of the night.

Testimonials

Coming to the shelves.

Infinite flow is a genre I've wanted to write about for a long time. The first infinite flow novel I remember reading was called "The Book of Girl's Contract," which I stayed up all night reading and found very enjoyable.

As I watched more and more anime, I always wanted to write my own book, but as time went on, my initial idea was revised beyond recognition.

I originally wanted to include Tokyo Ghoul, but I wasn't sure if everyone would want to watch it. Although it's a great anime, it was only available on file-sharing sites shortly after its release. The same goes for Attack on Titan, where the female leads are all outstanding.

The art style of Godslayer looks a bit dated now, similar to Zero no Tsukaima, but I still find some of its settings very interesting and plan to include them in this book.

Actually, I really wanted to include Code Geass in it, but I'm afraid it will end up as a fan-oriented work, like "Rose Reclaimed." I'm afraid not many people will watch it. Ultimately, I can't create something just out of love.

Titles like Guilty Crown, Tokyo Ravens, Machine-Doll, Black Bullet, and Aria the Scarlet Ammo are all scrapped. They're either too obscure now, too old, or don't fit the overall theme of the book...

It's highly likely that the world of Strike the Blood and High School DxD will be added later. I absolutely love La Fria and Rias.

The power levels in this book increase gradually, so there won't be any power spikes. In other words, there won't be any overpowered characters like in Dragon Ball (besides, it's an older series and there aren't any cute girls), so there won't be any slice-of-life elements.

There exists a main world similar to a "miniature garden," where each pantheon's gods control several stars (worlds) and constantly send their apostles, chosen ones, gods, and incarnations down to explore certain worlds, seize valuable planets, or simply gain experience or have fun.

If the story continues, there will likely be a plot involving a struggle for control of the Naruto and One Piece worlds.

The plan is to write two million words, because I want to make the female characters more well-developed, and the plot may be much more detailed. If you feel it's dragging, I will try to speed it up.

I occasionally read book reviews, but I rarely do. I haven't proactively written any myself, because it's only after writing books... that I've begun to understand the hardships of being an author. I'll delete any reviews that are overly critical; there's no need to bring real-life negativity into reading.

Finally, I also dislike the author's tendency to comment on things like taking time off to pick up the kids or attend a wedding. I'm not targeting anyone in particular, but it gives off a sense of worldliness and slickness. Reality, upon closer examination, is heavy, but life is a continuous pursuit of hope, which is why there are otaku! The world of anime and manga is beautiful, and there's no need to mix it with reality; it's easy to get detached from the story, and I'll try my best to avoid that.

So I'll only say this once: give me your monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, swords of encouragement, and tips whenever you can, give me some motivation to keep writing!

Chapter 50: What if everything became the norm?

Thursday, December 1st, 9:50 AM.

A large number of players had already gathered in the fountain square. Considering that it was close to noon, many players had come here from the restaurant.

In a small alley not far from the fountain square, Asuna, leaning against a wall, was chewing rapidly with her small mouth exposed beneath her hood.

Because Dante was staring at her, Asuna suddenly turned and glared back.

"...What are you looking at?"

Look at you.

Of course, it's best to keep these thoughts to yourself; there's no need to say them aloud.

"This cream bread is really delicious." Mito, who was also standing against the wall to Asuna's right, honestly commented, having unknowingly eaten half of the bread in his hand.

Even she never imagined that two unrelated foods could be combined into such a dreamlike dish.

"Right, right?" Asuna turned to look at Mito, smiling smugly.

But actually, the cream that Mito ate was the same bottle that Dante had given to Asuna before. Silica was also surprised that Miss Asuna had done this task before, and then she learned from the explanation that it was given to her by Dante.

At this moment, Silica was holding the black bread in both hands, happily opening her little mouth to take a big bite.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat?"

Realizing that Asuna was speaking to him, Dante shook his head and said, "Ah, never mind."

"What's wrong? Don't you like sweets?" Asuna stopped chewing and glanced at him. Last time, she finished her food in one go, while he only ate a few bites.

"I just don't like sweet and sour tastes. By the way, I don't like oranges either, they're too sour."

"Not all oranges are sour." "Oranges can be sweet too."

Mito and Asuna then offered their own criticisms.

"Eating a delicious orange is like trying to win a big prize in a shopping mall; the odds of you saying 'thank you for your patronage' are usually higher," Dante retorted in response to their questions.

Then he tapped his right wrist with his left fingers. "There's still time! Time!"

It's almost time to meet up.

To satisfy Asuna's wish to taste the creamy black bread one more time before the Boss battle, they left the crowd and went into the alley.

Silica had liked it before and had tried it many times, and now she wanted to eat it again. Mito, on the other hand, had never done the "Cow's Comeback" mission, but after Asuna's strong recommendation, he also wanted to try it.

"I'm done eating." Asuna patted the crumbs off her free hands at the end.

Seeing Asuna's satisfied expression, Dante said, "If you want to eat it again in the future, come back to the first floor and do this quest again."

"Forget it, that's too much trouble." After thinking it over carefully, Asuna shook her head and refused, even though she was somewhat tempted.

Because it takes more than an hour to get from the starting town to Horuka, the round trip time plus the time to complete the mission will take a whole afternoon!

"Thank you for the treat," Mitt said softly.

When they returned to the plaza, they saw their last team member standing not far away—Kirito.

At this moment, he was talking to a male player, Ya Wang, who had styled his short brown hair like a hedgehog.

It's hard to imagine what these two could possibly have to talk about, but that's the reality.

However, it didn't seem to be a friendly conversation. After seeing Dante, Ya Wang glared at Kirito again with a strong hostile look, and then said in a very deep voice.

"Be honest with me."

Dante and Asuna, who had approached, also heard these words.

After speaking, Ya Wang spat an imaginary mouthful of saliva onto the ground before turning and leaving.

"What exactly happened?" Asuna, full of a sense of justice, asked with a frown. It looked to her as if Ya-Oh had provoked her first.

If Dante hadn't known the whole story, he probably would have asked the question like Asuna did.

"It's nothing." Not knowing how to react, Kirito finally adopted a look that indicated he didn't want to talk about it.

"We're a team now." Dante solemnly reminded them that they weren't bystanders, then shielded Silica, who was tugging at his sleeve, behind him. He glanced at the departing Fang King and said, "Your conflict with Fang King is related to your status as a closed beta player, isn't it?"

He lowered his voice as he spoke, making sure that people nearby wouldn't hear him.

"...Yes." Helpless, Kirito brought up the fact that the man named Ya-o had offered 40,000 Corsos to buy his sword yesterday, but he had refused outright.

"Are you sure this isn't a scam?" Mitt questioned, knowing the actual value of the first-level single-handed sword, the Resilient Sword, because even after being enhanced, this sword wasn't worth 40,000 Cor.

The market price of an unenhanced base sword is currently only around 16,000 Cor. Even if you spend some time collecting or purchasing materials to enhance it to the first level limit, it will not exceed 20,000 Cor at most.

“This should be a protective acquisition,” Dante analyzed.

Just like the "Bear Slayer +7" on his back, if someone were to offer 100,000 Corel to buy it, he might actually sell it.

After all, he still has two unenhanced "Resilient Swords" in his possession; he can simply switch to one-handed swords later.

Of course, the price was that for a long time, he couldn't find such a good two-handed sword.

“Protective acquisition…” As the daughter of an entrepreneur, Asuna sometimes overheard her father and brothers discussing this kind of topic at the dinner table, so she knew what the term meant. However, another question arose: “Kirito-san, what exactly did you do to make Ya-oh so wary?”

"Um..." Kirito was speechless for a moment, stammering and unable to speak.

“Ha, I remember now.” Mitt sighed deeply, “During the boss battles in the closed beta, he often timed his sword skills perfectly and won LA rewards many times.”

"..." Kirito nodded silently in acknowledgment. Calculating the enemy's remaining HP and unleashing a sword technique at its maximum power was indeed something he excelled at.

"So that's how it is." Asuna understood. This was probably similar to secretly asking a teacher you had a good relationship with to highlight important points before an exam, and then shining brightly on the exam. It was something that would make people hold a grudge.

“However, Ya Wang wasn’t a closed beta player, and theoretically he didn’t know that Kirito was a closed beta player. In fact, there should be very few people who do know,” Dante said meaningfully.

"You mean... someone told the King of Fang about this?" Mitt placed his finger on his chin, following Dante's unspoken meaning.

"Who did this?" Asuna asked.

"Maybe it's Diabel." "It should be Diabel."

Dante and Mitt spoke at the same time, and the next second they looked at each other when they realized that the other had said the same thing.

"Because logically speaking, Diabel, as the commander, has a better chance of receiving LA's reward." Mitt made this guess from the perspective of the ultimate beneficiary.

As long as the boss has only a sliver of health left, have your own team take over, and the LA reward is practically yours.

At the same time, she also fully understood Dante's plan: if Diabel, as the commander, were to have an accident, then it would be only natural for them to go to his rescue.

This man saw through Diabel's scheme and then took advantage of it... That's impressive.

Kirito also came to a realization at the same time, and he raised his palm to assure everyone, "I won't make any rash moves this time."

Diabel has already put him on guard, so if he tries to seize LA again, he might miss out on future boss battles.

It's possible that he'll be banned from participating. Although he doesn't think Diabel would do such a thing, given the King's hostility towards him, it's hard to guarantee that nothing will go wrong.

"Everyone!"

Diabel, the blue-haired player who had been standing at the edge of the fountain, started speaking again in his well-known, beautiful voice.

"Although it may be a bit abrupt, I want to say thank you first! It's now confirmed that all 46 people in all the teams have arrived!"

Immediately, cheers of "whoosh whoosh" echoed throughout the square, followed by deafening applause.

At this point, Dante and his companions had no choice but to stop their conversation and join in clapping.

After smiling and looking around at everyone, Diabel first placed his right hand on his left hip, then drew his silver longsword with a sharp cry.

"Let's go now!"

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

Afternoon sunlight filters through the gaps in the leaves on both sides, casting dappled patterns on the flat forest path.

As a large group of people traveled from Torbana to the Tower Labyrinth area, a part of Asuna's memories seemed to be awakened.

It took her a few minutes to finally remember what it was.

"Mite, do you remember our school trip in January?"

"What?" Mito, who was half a step behind Asuna and fourth in the line, paused for a moment, then immediately realized, "Ah, it's going to Queensland, Australia, right?"

Being suddenly transported from the dead of winter in Tokyo to the golden coast in the height of summer made the classmates feel as excited as if they had been to heaven, so they made a lot of noise wherever they went.

"..." Dante looked back from the front of the squad.

What kind of school is this? Other people's school trips are already pretty good if they can go to Kyoto, and at most they can only go to Okinawa. These two can actually go abroad!

"So Asuna and Mito are from the same school." Silica, who was following closely behind Dante, realized something, turned around and walked backwards, then cutely put her hands behind her back and enthusiastically joined the conversation.

“Yes,” Asuna smiled. “Mitsu and I both attend the private Eternal Girls’ Academy in the port area.”