A journey to another world starting from a sword

Previously, when she and Mitt were in the maze, they broke a huge pottery jar in the corridor to check if anything had fallen, but they only found a silver coin worth one hundred kor.

Stepping forward, Silica placed her hand on the box, then looked at Dante and the other two and nodded solemnly.

"Ok!"

After opening the treasure chest, in addition to the item containing Ke'er, there is also an item called "Powerful Leather Belt".

"Underwear?" Silica managed to pronounce the name, looking blankly at her older brothers and sisters.

“This name…” Dante didn’t know how to respond.

Mitt showed Silica her the stats, "This thing has pretty good defense, and it even has a strength bonus!!!"

Her tone made it sound like she wanted to wear it.

"I pass," Dante said, raising his hands. He already had a suit of armor and a coat, so there was no need for him to wear this. He put away the equipment he had already upgraded.

“No, we can’t wear that either.” Mitt pouted speechlessly. If this equipment were worn, the upper body would be fixed in a “half-naked state with only belts binding various parts”, making it impossible to wear any other coats or armor.

A girl half-naked! It's impossible for her to be wearing any clothes!

She did want Dante to try it on first to see how it looked, but after seeing Asuna's reaction, Mito thought it was better to give up the idea; Asuna probably wouldn't want to see that.

"What would it look like if a girl wore this?" Dante couldn't help but wonder.

"What do you mean, how?" At this moment, Asuna's eyes immediately shone with a light three times colder than when she had just slaughtered the minotaurs.

"N-nothing." Not wanting to argue, Dante quickly looked away, coughed a few times to cover it up, and thought to himself how regrettable it was.

It would be such a waste not to use this rare treasure, since we finally obtained it with great difficulty.

Since no one in the team would wear this, we might as well give it to Agil and the others.

"Hmph!" Asuna crossed her arms and turned her head to the other side.

Chapter 60: The Practices of a Hardcore Gamer

The minotaurs respawn at set times. If you keep moving forward, you will encounter enemies, but if you stay still, you will not be in any danger for a short period of time.

So they had a quick lunch in a room on the first floor, eating bread they bought at noon, and took a few sips of clean drinking water from the city fountain to avoid choking on the bread.

They spent the entire afternoon conquering the third level of the labyrinth. After Dante handed the healing potion to Silica, who was almost out of potions, he suggested that it was time to head back.

Because getting hurt hurts a lot, he consumes the fewest potions in the team.

Even so, the dropped items and treasure chests that everyone couldn't take still filled his constantly empty inventory, and in the end, even the space in his waist pocket was fully utilized.

Place the potions there as much as possible to save some space in your inventory.

To avoid actually exceeding his own weight limit and thus increasing unnecessary risks, Mitt agreed to Dante's suggestion.

Dante opened the map and saw that the empty spaces on the third floor of the labyrinth tower were almost completely filled.

If they spent another two days in the labyrinth area, they might actually be able to clear the entire labyrinth tower in one go, Dante said, expressing his thoughts.

"Isn't this too dangerous?" Mito glanced at Asuna and Silica with some hesitation before speaking to Dante.

A full day of battle is a huge drain on a player's energy and stamina, and it could be very dangerous if something unexpected happens.

Dante glanced at Mitt; Mitt's words just now... didn't they imply that she was somewhat eager to try out this idea?

"Camping in the maze area..." Asuna thought for a few seconds, "Hmm, I did something like this before."

“Ah, it was last time, back then!” Silica remembered too, when Dante went to see Miss Asuna.

That night! He didn't come back!

Her eyes were shining at that moment, "I want to try it too."

"Hey, do you think this is a picnic?" Mitt said, pursing his lips. "You're being too naive."

In the team, Mitt was most worried about her.

"Well, normally it only takes two or three people to attack a monster, but we have four people and we can take turns resting, so the physical and mental exertion shouldn't be too great."

"Hmm." Feeling that Dante was spoiling Silica too much, Mitt glared at him to express his displeasure. "Let's discuss it when we get back."

If she had to stay in the maze area all day, she would probably be the most tired one, since Asuna and Silica were still beginners.

Dante... she didn't need to worry about Dante; after all, that man had always been reliable.

Retracing our steps, we encountered virtually no monsters, except for some respawned minotaurs in certain areas of the first floor.

They did not encounter any other frontline players along the way and successfully left the maze area.

After leaving, Dante casually sent a message, asking Argo to come and retrieve the map files.

They still didn't charge her; the data was provided to her free of charge. This was a tacit understanding between Dante and Argo.

If you get along well with this information provider, it will save you a lot of trouble with the subsequent strategy.

"Wait." Suddenly, Dante reached out and stopped everyone.

"What's wrong?" Asuna stopped and looked around without any sign of tension, as did Silica.

Only Mitt became serious and gripped the scythe he was carrying on his shoulder with both hands.

Seeing Mito's actions, Asuna immediately placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, on guard, and whispered, "An enemy?"

"Is it an enemy?" Dante's target acquisition skill did indeed detect a hidden player, but at this moment, the player heading to the front lines...

"Kirito?" he called out tentatively.

“…” Mitt glanced at Dante, then followed his gaze to a certain direction.

"I didn't expect your skills to be so proficient. You saw right through my concealment." The black-haired boy who had teamed up with me yesterday emerged from the bushes with a wry smile. "And how did you guess it was me?"

Dante waved his hand behind his back to signal everyone to relax and that everything was alright, and then laughed, "Of course it's because you're a hardcore gamer, and according to Argo, you should be the strongest among the closed beta testers."

"...Argo wouldn't sell players' personal information without permission," Kirito simply remarked, but he didn't press the matter further. After all, the things he did during the closed beta could be easily found out with a little inquiry, and his strength and other abilities could be roughly analyzed.

He didn't agree with the claim that he was the strongest in the closed beta. Perhaps there were other players stronger than him; he'd only know for sure after actually fighting them. For example, the player named Mitt in front of him should also be a closed beta player.

Meanwhile, Mito was staring coldly at Kirito. She understood Dante's reasoning a little better, since she was that type of person herself.

The so-called hardcore gamer is someone who, after finishing dinner and replenishing their supplies, rushes out again to hunt until the next morning.

As for who is the strongest... although they reached the Boss room of Thousand Snake City first during the closed beta, we'll only know their true strength after we fight them.

"Argo told me that you guys defeated that jungle boss, you're really impressive." Kirito glanced at the four people in front of him and praised them sincerely.

He did this the day after he reached the second level. When he left Urbus in the morning, he saw Diabel's squad preparing to go hunting in the training area on the west side of the city.

Judging from the look of it, he probably wanted to show his teammates the monsters on the new floor and collect enhancement materials along the way.

"Thanks to Agil and the others too. I'll call you next time the team is tackling a floor boss," Dante said with a smile, spreading his hands.

"Defeat...the Boss?" Kirito clicked his tongue. "It's better to be careful. Floor bosses can't be easily defeated by one or two small teams."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't normally do that." Dante nodded in agreement.

"Under normal circumstances..." Kirito was momentarily speechless.

"Oh, right, since you're going in, I'll give you the map we've explored." Dante brought up another matter, then used the main menu to scroll up the map file.

"Huh?" Kirito paused, "That's important information, isn't it? I..."

I was just about to jokingly say that I was a selfish lone wolf player, and a closed beta tester at that, and that if I let him in, all the treasure chests in the maze would be opened first.

But these words were immediately interrupted.

"It's alright, it's alright." Dante tossed the scroll over, his smile making Kirito pale in comparison. "If you find any useful items, remember to sell them to us first."

Kirito nodded at the joke, "Of course, but I'll still pay for this map data."

"No need. But if you explore the later floors, just remember to send us a map." Dante shrugged and said.

"I understand," Kirito nodded solemnly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Then I wish you a successful hunt."

"Yes, you've all worked hard too."

Kirito watched as the four of them brushed past him. The little girl with twin tails who was walking at the back glanced back at him, and then immediately ran over to Dante.

He shouldn't look that scary, right? Although his sister once described his face as gloomy, Kirito thought his expression just now was actually quite kind.

"A knight..." Kirito shook his head and muttered to himself, thinking of the nickname circulating among the players on the front lines. Then he opened the map. "Eh? Have we already reached the third floor?"

That's too fast. If he had followed the steps methodically, he probably wouldn't have reached the third floor until late at night.

If I run quickly to the third floor now, I should be able to reach the fifth floor before going back.

"Alright!" Kirito patted his face with both hands, mustered his courage, and stepped into the entrance of the maze area.

Before evening, Dante led his men back to Urbus, where the crimson sunset was already streaming in from the outer edges.

The sky gradually changed from purple to blue, and a sense of peace welled up from the bottom of my heart the moment I stepped into the streets of Urbus.

"Hahaha--"

The restaurants and pubs lining both sides of the street were filled with lively chatter, mixed with the sounds of toasts celebrating another safe and sound day.

Players walking down the main street of Urbus had relaxed smiles on their faces. Even Dante, who had been fighting all day, relaxed in this atmosphere.

The girls behind her thought the same thing, and Asuna's gratified smile was especially beautiful, making it hard to look away.

Then... they were frequently stared at by passing players, which made Asuna embarrassed and pull up her hood.

"Asuna is really popular," Mito said with a laugh, pulling up his hood as well.

"What?!" Asuna pouted speechlessly. "It's not just me, Mito and Silica are the same."

"No, no..." Silica quickly shook her head; she should be modest at this moment.

If you're arrogant and self-important at school, you won't make any friends.

“Yeah.” Mitt nodded readily, then quickened his pace, patted someone on the shoulder, and said, “And this guy!”

"What?" Dante asked, turning around in confusion after being patted on the shoulder while walking.

“Those female players who passed by, they probably weren’t looking at us, were they?” Mitt gave a teasing look, as if to say, “Didn’t you notice?”

"No!" Dante shook his head firmly at Mitt's teasing. "Maybe it's up to you guys."

Even girls can like cute and cool girls.

Asuna rolled her eyes slightly at what sounded like a sophistry. Didn't this guy realize how handsome he was?

"It's really lively." Dante turned his head and changed the subject. No, it wasn't really changing the subject; he simply wanted to express his feelings about what he had seen and heard.

Hearing the hearty laughter around him, this was the second time he had experienced such a lively scene; the first time was after the Boss meeting on the first floor.

"Perhaps everyone is happy because they've seen... hope." With her hands behind her back, Asuna walked leisurely to Dante's side and slightly behind.

"Is there any hope...?"

Dante murmured softly, and Asuna stared at his profile, which seemed to be lost in thought, until the next topic of "what to have for dinner" came up.

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

"Found you, you're here."

The moonlight shone on the rooftop, giving it a faint silvery glow.

Asuna went up to the roof and looked out over the residential area of ​​Urbas.

The surrounding scenery became hazy in the night, but the familiar yet unfamiliar outlines could still be discerned.

"Wow, that was a quick shower." Dante flipped his hand, causing Cardinal to disguise the window as the game's main menu.

Having confirmed that killing the jungle boss in the morning would also yield Mana, he is now considering how to enhance his strength.

His body is gradually drawing nourishment from the world of Aincrad—SAO. Every bit of power added to his attributes will be carried away intact when he leaves this world.

Of course, it would be even better if we could stay.

How a person can transplant a tree from the wild into their own yard without using any large tools.

Prune away excess branches and leaves, leaving only the main stem; dig up the soil without damaging the root system; and do this without being noticed by the guards.

Finally, we had enough strength to carry it back.

“Yuktrahiel?” God’s definition of the world is varied and mysterious, but its essence remains unchanged.

It really looks like it.