A journey to another world starting from a sword

A rough estimate suggests that their earnings for one night were at least one million, not even counting the dozen or so seemingly perfect gems in Dante's inventory.

Each person received at least 100,000 kels in silver coins, and Lisbeth, having received such a large sum of money, became a miser.

When Silica whispered "miser" in front of Lisbeth, the two immediately began a chase.

"stop!"

"I won't stop here, hehe~"

"What are we going to do later? Should we go back to the hotel to sleep first?" Asuna asked, almost leaning her head on his shoulder, standing next to Dante.

"No, let's go see Argo first. I asked her to help gather information on the lower-level life skill players, since the venue needs some food stalls. Also, we need to find Yuna and Ashura; the festival performances will require their help."

"I'll go to Argo." Forcing herself to stay alert, Asuna took on one of the tasks.

"Okay, then I'll go find Yuna and the others." Mitt suppressed his sleepiness and yawned again.

"The rest of you should go back to the hotel and rest for a while," Dante said, stroking his chin after a moment's thought.

"I can help too!" Lingyin immediately raised her hand, probably feeling a little embarrassed.

"What? What?" "Ah, what happened?"

Upon hearing Lingyin's voice, Silica and Lisbeth quickly came over and offered to help as well.

“You’re all still awake, how could I possibly go to sleep?” Lisbeth’s words were purely out of loyalty.

“Silica and Lisbeth can go with Asuna,” Dante instructed, placing a hand on Silica’s head to soothe her as she tried to say something. “We’re going to the tavern later, so the children shouldn’t come along.”

"I'll contact Argo now." Asuna picked up little Silica, opened the game window, and started typing on the virtual keyboard to contact Argo.

"And while you're at it, give Argo the map of the catacombs you've explored," Dante reminded him.

They might even be able to print out a special strategy book like "Strategy Guide: Underground Treasure Edition" and sell it in the item shop.

Considering that the underground tomb is actually quite difficult, and various traps that Silica might not be able to detect if she were not skilled, it would be easy to lose your way out if you fell to a lower level.

Therefore, strategy guides don't need to be free; at least the cost should be recouped.

With this decision made, after returning to "Karuruin", the six people split into two teams of three and began to act separately.

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

From the portal plaza, I went to a tavern on the fourth floor of the commercial street and looked around. Although I had broken through to the fourth floor, very few players actually used this floor as their base of operations. There were only a few pedestrians around at eight o'clock in the morning.

It's highly likely that this place isn't very easy to move around in. It's fine for a town with a leisurely lifestyle, but for both production-oriented and combat-oriented players, no one wants to spend unnecessary time moving around in the town.

Dante, Mitt, and Lingyin stood quietly at the entrance of the tavern.

"What kind of person is Miss Yuna?" Lingyin asked idly out of boredom.

This suddenly reminded Dante, "You've met Lingyin, but not Yuna. Yuna is a friend of mine and Mito's... a bard who loves to sing."

The term "bard" is a very fantastical one. According to Dante's true thoughts, Yuna should be called a songstress, but the clothes Ashura designed for Yuna make her look like a bard.

"Singing?" Lingyin was surprised to hear a word that should have been completely unrelated to SAO.

“Yes, there are musical instruments in SAO too,” Dante nodded.

“Ah—” Lingyin let out a small gasp, her eyes widening suddenly, as if two of the purest gems were sparkling with astonishment in their sockets.

On the other side, Mitt was leaning against the wall, closing her eyes to rest and relieve the throbbing in her temples and the growing fatigue. After all, she was the one mainly responsible for fighting underground.

After a long wait, Dante was the first to spot a figure in a hooded cloak in the northeast corner. The figure seemed to have seen them too and jogged toward it.

"Mite! Dante!"

Mitt opened her eyes and saw a small figure rushing towards her. She instinctively grabbed it with both hands.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

After a moment of stunned silence following the shock, Mitt tapped the brown-haired girl on the back with practiced ease.

"...Um, um, long time no see."

Chapter 117: The Girl Who Wants to Sing

“My name is Yuna.” Before Dante could introduce Lingyin, Yuna straightened up and then bent down slightly. “I’m a friend of Mitt and Dante.”

"Plivette, I'm Lingyin." Receiving Yuna's cheerful smile, Lingyin introduced herself.

“Plivet is Russian for hello,” Dante explained briefly. “Lingyin is a child who returned from abroad.”

"Really?" Yuna grabbed Lingyin's hand, glanced at Dante, then stared intently at Lingyin, her face filled with even more surprise. "Miss Lingyin, I've always been very curious about things abroad. Tell me more about the differences between foreign countries and China later."

"Little Yu." Ashura delivered a chop to Yu's head.

"Ouch, that hurts!" Yuna quickly covered her head.

"Stop pretending." Looking at Yuna's tearful and pitiful face, Ashurai pretended to be stern and lectured, "Little Yuna, it's basic to not bring up reality in the game, right?"

Asking people about their lives, especially when meeting them for the first time, is considered an unspoken rule. Moreover, since we are all prisoners trapped in this huge cage, who knows if we might touch on someone's sore spot?

"Oh, right." Yuna immediately realized and quickly bowed her head to apologize to Lingyin, "I'm sorry, Miss Lingyin."

"It's okay, just call me Lingyin." Lingyin was amazed by Yuna's liveliness and cuteness, and said gently.

"Okay! Lingyin, you can just call me Yuna." Yuna's face lit up with a bright smile, seemingly happy to have made a new friend.

"Ok!"

They then entered the space behind them, which was covered with brown wooden planks.

Sitting at the bar, I casually flipped through the drink menu on the table and ordered the drink I wanted from the owner, who had a subtle mustache.

"Gulp, mmm—" Yuna took a big gulp and made a satisfying sound, then gently placed the cup on the table. "My throat was so thirsty just now."

She suddenly remembered something and abruptly looked up. "Oh, did I forget to toast first?"

"To celebrate our reunion?" Dante said, casually resting his chin on his hand and raising his cup with the other.

"And you guys successfully conquered the fourth floor!" Yuna held her cup high, raised her slender eyebrows at Dante, and winked her right eye. "Even I, a player who stays in the starting town, have heard about Dante and your activities."

"Thank you." In any case, Yuna's affirmation made Dante feel once again that their struggle was not in vain.

"cheers!"

"cheers!!!"

Everyone raised their glasses and then drank most of their first drink in one gulp.

After ordering his second drink, Dante explained to Yuna and Ashura the reason for inviting them to meet.

"...In short, we plan to hold a Christmas festival on the fourth floor on Christmas Eve."

Although it sounds complicated, it's true, and no one else seemed surprised that the Christmas festival was held on Christmas Eve.

"That's awesome!" Yuna slapped the table, stood up excitedly, her eyes sparkling. "Can I participate too?"

"I'd rather you hold a small concert on stage," Dante said, revealing the purpose of his trip.

"Huh?" Lingyin looked up in surprise. "A concert?"

"Yeah, it's just about livening up the atmosphere or something," said Lingyin, who didn't know much about the situation yet. "Yuna is a songstress, you know."

"Ahhh—" Yuna waved her hands frantically, squirming her body shyly. "Dante! I'm so embarrassed by what you said."

"What's the big deal?" "It's nothing."

Ashurai and Mitt put down their cups at the same time, a smile playing on their lips.

"That's right, Yuna's talent is truly outstanding," Dante concluded with a final, definitive praise.

"Hmm..." Yuna lowered her gaze shyly, revealing a rather adorable reaction, "But I'm not used to standing in front of people yet."

“In that case, wearing a mask or hood will suffice.” Dante had already planned this out, glancing at Ashura.

“I see.” Ashura laughed. “No wonder you called me. It’s alright, leave it to me.”

She patted her already well-developed feminine features, exuding the charm of a mature woman.

"I will design an outfit for Xiao You that is suitable for going on stage."

"But...but I don't have that many songs." Although Yuna had always followed her father's wishes to study music, she only started singing after entering SAO.

In reality, she studied piano and guitar, but her favorite thing was singing, not classical songs or opera, but female pop songs and anime songs.

"Don't worry," Dante said, putting Yuna at ease. "You go on stage first, and I'll figure out how to fill the vacancy."

"Could it be that Dante, you have a new piece of music?" Yuna leaned forward, peeking her head out from the table and exclaimed excitedly, like a little fangirl.

"..." Lingyin looked at her president in surprise again. She didn't quite understand what Yuna had just said, or rather, she understood it but didn't comprehend it.

What do you mean "again"?!

What's with the music?

Lingyin, who was hearing for the first time that Dante could compose music, showed a very interesting expression. Her face, which had its own "Eh" sound effect, made people want to laugh.

"I......"

Before Dante could answer, Ashurai clapped his hands.

"Then it seems I'll need to prepare two sets of clothes."

Then Yuna immediately took action, jumping off her chair, taking the lyre from her inventory, and handing it to Dante.

"please."

“I didn’t agree,” Dante said quietly.

"Alas—" Yuna sighed with great regret, but Dante's words the next second made her turn from crying to laughing.

"Well, show me how well you've practiced, and then I'll think about it."

"Yes!" Yuna pulled the chair back about half a meter, put her slender legs together, stood up straight, then held the zither and played the tinkling chords.

The melody has a fantastical style, and it's probably based on some background music from Aincrad where she wrote the lyrics herself.

In addition, she was quite familiar with the songs Dante gave her.

Finally, as the second chorus ends, the song naturally comes to a close.

The four people present immediately gave Yuna a warm round of applause and cheered for her singing.

"Thank you." Yuna hugged Shiqin and smiled happily.

"Ah—" Lingyin gazed at Yuna's satisfied expression, finding it dazzling. But what surprised her even more, and made her squint her eyes, was Dante's performance that followed.

Yuna sat down again, as if waiting for her to sit down, and Dante began to play the overture.

It feels like the beat is slower and quieter than when humming "la la la".

"That fleeting, ephemeral summer has ended, and sitting on the train at dawn, I recall those memorable landscapes..."

The lyrics, which sound like a nursery rhyme, are gently sung by a beautiful male voice.

"I long to meet you again at that moment when my heart first fluttered. I will never forget it. Are you feeling the same way today, even if you are covered in wounds, still offering a bouquet to each day that never ends...?"

The lyrics create a stark contrast between childhood fantasies about the future and the world as an adult.

Yes! It's like cyan and gray.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment, and the surrounding world became blurred.

Gazing at the only clear scene in her sight, Lingyin's dark eyelashes trembled slightly, her gaze softened and became distant, and the emotions of emotion and nostalgia welling up in her heart were intertwined and reflected on her delicate face.

She uttered an exclamation, "Wow, that's amazing..."

At the same time, endless longing and envy arose in my heart.

Chapter 118: Of course, it's a princess carry!

When the performance and singing ended, Mitt and Yuna cheered even louder than before.

Yuna, in particular, seemed to think that someone else's song was much better than hers, and she slapped her chest very hard with her hands.

No, there was still one person who stood there, stunned.

Dante looked at Lingyin, who was still sitting there in a daze. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Ah—ah, um. I..." Lingyin realized what was happening and didn't know how to answer for a moment, so she timidly withdrew her hand.