I'm a Sword Master in Sword Art Online

It was only then that he noticed the unusual behavior of the two.

Asuna's face turned deathly pale, and Silica's lips were trembling.

"Are you guys okay?"

"It's...nothing..." Asuna managed to squeeze out a reply, but her fingers were gripping his clothes tightly.

Silica opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Wang Yuefeng wrapped his arms around the two of them, pulling them into his embrace and backing them to the wall.

His body heat seeped through the fabric, gradually restoring feeling to the girls' icy fingers.

During this period, the ghosts continued to emit mournful cries, and the chapel trembled more and more violently.

Clearly, this is the source of the strange noises in the client's home.

Asuna and Silica kept their eyes tightly closed, their long eyelashes trembling incessantly.

It felt like an entire century had passed before the tremors finally subsided.

The ghost's wails faded into the distance like the receding tide, eventually disappearing completely into the air.

Silence returned, and Asuna and Silica finally dared to slowly exhale the breath they had been holding for so long.

As they regained sensation in their paralyzed limbs, they suddenly realized that Mochizuki Kaede was holding them tightly around the waist.

This realization made their cheeks instantly burn.

But just as they mustered the courage to open their eyes—

A ghostly face glowing with a pale phosphorescence suddenly appeared thirty centimeters in front of them, with two red will-o'-the-wisps staring straight at them from its eye sockets.

"No! Aa ...

Two mournful cries, louder than the screams of ghosts, echoed throughout the chapel.

Asuna and Silica almost instinctively threw themselves into Mochizuki Kaede's arms, clutching his clothes tightly and burying their faces in his chest. Silica could even feel her heart pounding in her throat.

The two girls have a natural fear of ghosts and monsters.

It's not that they reject all supernatural beings; for example, they can readily accept the cute images of traditional Japanese yokai or the slow-moving zombies in movies. What truly terrifies them are those beings associated with the word "spirit": ghosts without a physical form, appearing and disappearing without a trace, capable of passing through walls at will. That ambiguous feeling of never being able to be sure if someone is right next to you is the most unbearable.

Since being trapped in SAO, they had fought countless monsters, but all of them were solid-type enemies. Over time, they came to believe that there were no spirit-type monsters in this floating city. Now it seems that this judgment was far too optimistic.

And at that moment, a living ghost stood right in front of him.

This realization made them cling tightly to Mochizuki Kaede's clothes, refusing to lift their heads. Asuna's fingertips trembled slightly, while Silica curled up into a ball. Even knowing they were in a game, the instinctive fear lingered.

Just keeping quiet and refraining from wailing had already exhausted all my energy.

Mochizuki Kaede could clearly feel the rapid heartbeats of the two girls in his arms, pounding violently like frightened animals.

After a few seconds of silence.

"Asuna... Silica..." Mochizuki Kaede called softly.

Asuna buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled and trembling: "D-Did that bastard leave?"

"Uh... still in the same place."

"Aaaaaah!" The two screamed again.

Silica shook her little head frantically against Mochizuki Kaede's chest, crying out, "Brother Kaede, think of something! Get rid of it right now!"

"Only by completing the mission can..."

"Then hurry up and do the mission!" Asuna's fingers clenched even tighter.

Mochizuki Kaede looked helplessly at the ghost floating not far away, then looked down at the two girls clinging to her like koalas. The ghost seemed quite interested in the farce, tilting its head and floating a little closer, which made Silica tremble again.

Mochizuki Kaede tried to move the arms that were holding her tightly: "But you have to let go of me first..."

"No!" they both said in unison, and instead hugged each other even tighter.

Mochizuki Kaede had no choice but to remain in that position and speak to the ghost, "Miss Ghost, why are you causing trouble here?"

A chilling echo reverberated through the chapel, like a winter wind seeping through the cracks. Asuna and Silica shuddered, swallowing back the screams that were about to escape their lips.

"...Because...I can't leave here..."

The ghost's voice was elusive, yet filled with deep sorrow.

Mochizuki Kaede continued, "Why can't we leave?"

"...I'm...locked up here..."

The ghost's figure appeared and disappeared in the candlelight, and the sorrow in its voice made Asuna and Silica relax their grip slightly.

The conversation between Mochizuki Kaede and the ghost continues.

The ghost lamented that she had been imprisoned in this chapel for thirty years. And the one who had imprisoned her here was none other than the lover with whom she had made a vow years ago.

That deep-seated resentment transformed into invisible chains, binding her here—

After clearly presenting this information, the ghost's presence gradually faded away.

“They’ve already left,” Mochizuki Kaede said softly to the two girls who were still burying their heads in his chest.

"Really...really?" Asuna asked.

"At least for now, I've left."

"Then...she won't suddenly reappear, will she?" Silica asked timidly.

"Hmm...not for now."

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief, their tense shoulders finally relaxing.

However, after the fear subsided, it was replaced by an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. They then realized how intimately they were pressed against Mochizuki Kaede.

Asuna and Silica exchanged glances, seeing the same embarrassment on each other's flushed faces. What expression should they use to create distance? This thought left them frozen in place.

"Ahem." Mochizuki Kaede broke the silence at the right moment. "Now that the mission clues are clear, we should take action."

As if grasping at a straw, the two exchanged a tacit glance, silently counted to three, and then simultaneously sprang apart with a "whoosh." Asuna pretended to tidy her messy hair, while Silica bent down to brush off non-existent dust, both deliberately avoiding each other's gaze.

The atmosphere became ambiguous for a moment.

"Let's... let's relight the candles first." Mochizuki Kaede broke the silence first, bending down to relight the extinguished candles.

Asuna and Silica finally calmed down and began to help tidy up the chapel.

At the spot where the ghost first appeared, they found a gold pendant that shimmered with a quest mark. Upon returning to town, the appraiser NPC recognized it as the emblem of a wealthy local merchant family.

After much trouble, they finally met the family's fifty-something-year-old head of power. When Mochizuki Kaede presented the pendant, the man's face turned ashen, and he trembled as he confessed to his crime from thirty years ago: for the sake of his future, he had lured his lover, who was hindering him, to the underground chapel and imprisoned her until her death, and the gold pendant was the one the girl had torn off during her struggle.

Asuna's clenched fist was ready to strike, but Mochizuki Kaede stopped her in time. Taking action now would interrupt the mission, so she had no choice but to hold back and lead the man back to the gloomy underground chapel.

As the last candle was blown out, the pale ghost reappeared.

The man knelt down, weeping and repenting. As he spoke, the ghost's figure gradually became transparent, eventually turning into specks of light and disappearing. The curse seemed to have been lifted.

After escorting the man back to the mansion to collect their payment, just as they closed the door, a violent crashing sound and the man's agonizing scream suddenly came from inside.

When everyone opened the door again, the room was empty, with only the curtains fluttering eerily in the still room...

The mission, "[Thirty Years of Sighs]", came to an end in such a chilling way.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Argo

In SAO, PK refers to player-versus-player combat (Player Killing).

Its PvP system mainly has the following two modes:

【Complete Win/Loss Mode】

The player who reduces the opponent's HP to 0 first wins. However, this mode was banned when SAO became a death game. This was because in this mode, a player's HP reaching zero meant physical death in reality, posing a significant risk.

【One-Hit Victory Mode】.

The first player to reduce their opponent's HP to 50% wins. This mode was relatively safe and became the primary player-versus-player mode after the game rules were changed.

In addition, there is a special and malicious "sleep-based PvP killing method": the perpetrator initiates a one-on-one duel while the target player is asleep, and then uses the target player's finger to click the "agree" button. This allows the perpetrator to achieve their goal of killing while avoiding being identified as a criminal player; it is a dark and unethical practice within the game.

……

"Xiao Ya, how about a duel?"

Argo, a "rat" with three painted mustaches on her face, suddenly suggested something. She was leaning against the granite pool wall of the bathhouse, surrounded by steam.

"Huh?" Asuna's eyes widened in surprise, and she instinctively shrank back into the water.

They were currently in the granite bath of the small northern village of Char on the fifth level. In the rising steam, the three girls' naked bodies were faintly visible. Silica sat next to Asuna, her face flushed, only half her head above the water.

To understand why he encountered Argo, the information broker, we have to go back two hours earlier—

After completing the chilling quest "Thirty Years of Sighs," the three rested briefly before venturing into the second level of the catacombs.

Starting from the second basement level, it becomes part of the maze area, which is outside the danger zone.

The atmosphere on the second basement level was distinctly different from that on the upper level. Although it was also constructed of stones with a bluish luster, and the cracks in the walls and floors were identical, the chill in the air was far more biting, and even the hardness of the stone slabs felt exceptionally cold to the touch.

The narrow entrance had only a low archway, beyond which lay a deep, dark corridor. On the walls on either side, flickering torches and rusty iron doors were arranged alternately. The firelight flickered, as if it might go out at any moment, and there were at least a dozen doors to explore, a sight that made one feel weary.

The three cautiously approached the nearest door.

Mochizuki Kaede pressed her ear against the rusty iron door, and only after confirming there were no unusual noises did she slowly push it open. The hinges emitted a piercing creak, particularly loud in the silent passageway.

The space inside the door was even darker than the corridor.

The only light source came from the wall opposite the door—a few candles stuck in a niche, their flames so faint they seemed about to vanish at any moment. The long, narrow room was empty, but the outline of a rectangle could be vaguely seen in the depths.

"Is it a treasure chest?" Asuna squinted, but as her vision gradually adjusted to the darkness, the outline became clearer—

It is a stone coffin.

Silica unconsciously moved closer to Mochizuki Kaede.

Indeed, finding coffins in such an ancient tomb labyrinth is perfectly normal. But recalling the supernatural mission just now, it still sends chills down one's spine. The candlelight cast flickering shadows on the stone coffin, as if something inside was restlessly stirring.

"You all stand guard at the entrance, ready to retreat at any time," Wang Yuefeng whispered, before slowly walking towards the stone coffin.

As the coffin lid was pushed open, a piercing scream suddenly rang out—

A greyish-white ghost floated out of the coffin, its appearance strikingly similar to the ghost in the previous quest, "Thirty Years of Sighs." However, unlike the ghost, a pale red buoy hovered above its head: "[Grim Reaper]." This was a malevolent monster capable of inflicting actual damage.

However, before the screams could fully spread, Mochizuki Maple's lightning blade, crackling with golden electricity, slashed down. Where the blade passed, the ghost didn't even have time to utter a wail before turning into smoke and vanishing. This was the absolute advantage of numerical superiority.

Upon examining the inside of the sarcophagus, only a jet-black short sword was found. Its attributes indicated a special damage bonus against spirits, but it was somewhat of a waste for the three who already possessed the [Thunder Blade], [Elf Sword], and [Crescent Wheel].

"Take it back for Lisbeth to study." Mochizuki Kaede put the short sword into her inventory. "She's been wanting to study this kind of weapon lately."

Asuna nodded in agreement, the rapier gleaming faintly green in the dim candlelight. Silica breathed a sigh of relief and quietly loosened her grip on the crescent moon.

After leaving the eerie stone chamber, they continued exploring the other rooms. Almost every room contained similar stone coffins, from which monsters like the "Grim Reaper" would occasionally leap out. After clearing out the undead on the second level, the three ventured deeper into the third level of the labyrinth.

After several fierce battles with undead monsters that suddenly appeared, they finally reached the deepest part of the labyrinth.

Surprisingly, they encountered the information broker "Rat" Argo here.

"Wow, I didn't expect to run into you guys here~" Argo's signature mustache was particularly eye-catching in the dim torchlight. She was sitting cross-legged in the small safe zone in front of the area BOSS room, with various recording tools scattered around her.

Argo was conducting on-site research here to gather information on the regional boss. She had originally only intended to confirm the location of the monster room before returning to publish the strategy guide, but she discovered that the regional boss was completely different from the one in the closed beta. Not only had its appearance changed drastically, but even its name had been altered. Out of professional habit, she decided to gather more information, and ended up staying for the entire day.

"Wait..." Asuna's voice suddenly rose an octave, "Miss Argo, did you actually write those strategy guides?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Wang Yuefeng's gray eyes beneath her silver hair.

Argo casually waved the notebook in his hand and winked slyly: "That's not the point~ Since you're here, I'll give you some information for free. Anyway, we'll be releasing a new strategy guide after we get out."

She tapped her finger on the notebook: "The boss inside is an absurdly large zombie. I bet it couldn't have been human in its previous life."

Argo made an exaggerated gesture: "What's more troublesome is that it has strong resistance to slashing, thrusting, and piercing attacks. However, there's a key mechanism in the room that will help you win. The ceiling of the entire BOSS room is a giant stone slab puzzle, which can only be solved by manipulating levers throughout the room. Once the puzzle is solved, sunlight will shine in, greatly weakening the zombie... and it's daytime right now."

At this point, Argo scratched his head: "I don't know what the programmers who designed this puzzle were thinking! It took me a whole day to figure out this damn puzzle pattern!"

Clearly, she was quite tormented by this puzzle-solving part.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Battle Against Argo

The village of Char in the northern part of the fifth floor is a hidden landing point after defeating the boss of the third floor of the catacombs.

After defeating the area boss, Argo led them through a hidden passage, eventually arriving at the small village built against the mountainside.