civilwarnovels Chapter 573 Black Hand
Chapter 573 Black Hand
Chapter 573 Black Hand
A new year begins.
I don’t know whether the players have finally cheered up, or whether they have given up their naive belief that they will be saved by the outside world. In any case, many players have left the town and walked into the wild, improving their strength and joining the strategy group.
Three months later... on March 3st, the strategy team cleared the 31th floor of Aincrad in one go.
A lot of things happened during this period.
First, the Aincrad Liberation Team guild founded by King Kiba was disbanded. No, to be more precise, it was destroyed.
Because Yaou was a greedy and reckless person, and because of his character, he was taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives. PoH took advantage of this and sent him false information while killing many powerful players.
You should know that many of the players who followed Kiba were members of the strategy group. This heavy blow greatly slowed down the strategy group's clearance speed. Kiba was even more disheartened and left the strategy group to wait for death on the first floor, which also cast a haze on the hearts of many players in the strategy group.
This was also the first time that the murderous guild Smiling Coffin entered the public eye.
PoH's actions indirectly affected many people.
Kirito became Master Kirito and Asuna became Asuna, and the two parted ways due to differences in their ideas. Then Kirito joined a small guild called [Black Cats of the Moonlit Night], which was composed of only a few low-level players, while Asuna joined the emerging guild [Blood Knights].
By the way, Asuna originally wanted to join the Axis Guild, but was rejected.
It was Kobayashi who personally refused.
In addition to being easily targeted by Kayaba Akihiko, and Asuna is likely to indulge Aqua and do bad things in the game, Krillin knows that the two of them are just temporarily separated because of sulking.
You really think of us as part of your love play, don't you?
Besides, whether or not they join the guild doesn't affect the joint forces to defeat the boss. They will still team up together when defeating the boss. Even at ordinary times, they often meet each other. The main reason is that Asuna is too fragile, and she has to come to Aqua every now and then to talk to her.
The most important thing is that Kobayashi promised the strategy team that Akusis would only recruit life players.
After four months of operation, the Axis Guild has become a famous large guild in Aincrad. Aqua and other guild members often provide guidance to lower-level players and distribute food for free, earning them a good reputation.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, this was just a reduction in the guild's assets, but Sato Kazuma, who had recruited a large number of lifestyle players, successfully used them to establish a business alliance, and currently all the daily necessities on the third floor of Aincrad would pass through his hands.
Sato Kazuma is really talented in business. But even with his talent, he still can't help complaining when he sees the small amount of money slipping away from his hands every day.
“Aqua, I’m talking to you…!”
Sato Kazuma clenched his fists and said angrily, "Why do you always cause trouble like this?"
"I didn't mean to do that! Seeing that those people didn't look angry, I couldn't help but do something to cheer them up."
"What's the point of cheering me up? You haven't done anything a goddess should do, and you still have the nerve to say that, you useless goddess!"
“Waaaaaah! Kazuma said something he shouldn’t have said!!!”
Aqua's eyes were filled with tears.
Darkness crossed her arms and said with a blush on her cheeks, “I’m actually very grateful to Aqua. Being stared at so eagerly by those people is a rare and wonderful experience!”
"Let me make it clear in advance that it wasn't a weird look, don't get it wrong." Sato Kazuma rolled his eyes at her.
"Hmm! Kazuma is still as merciless as ever when it comes to scolding me. Please say more!"
"……Hello!"
He was helpless against the perverted female knight.
Huihui also held up a black ball and said, “Kazuma Kazuma, I haven’t used this today. I won’t feel comfortable unless I find a place to explode it! Help me find something big and hard, I can’t bear it any longer!”
“Don’t do anything rash, Huihui!” Youyou quickly stopped her: “This explosive bomb can attract monsters within a range of 50 meters. If they rush over, we won’t be able to deal with them!”
“Ah——I’m so annoyed! I don’t want to stay in this kind of guild anymore! Where are the games where pretty girls show their affection to each other!!!”
Sato Kazuma was devastated by the noise.
"Brother, are you okay?" Alice asked worriedly, "Today is a happy flower-viewing day. Please don't look so scary. Let's enjoy it together, okay?"
"Since Princess Alice has said so, why don't you put away that scary face of yours, Sato Kazuma?" Kureya also followed suit.
To celebrate their successful clearance of the 25th floor, which was also the milestone of completing a quarter of Aincrad, they decided to go to the 11th floor to enjoy the flowers today.
I don’t know if Kayaba Akihiko did this on purpose, but the climate on the first few floors changes with the seasons, so the eleventh floor is the best time to view cherry blossoms.
"Okay, okay... I don't mind enjoying the flowers, but too many accidents happened before I even enjoyed them. I'm already exhausted."
Since his beloved sister said so, Sato Kazuma had no choice but to accept his fate.
“Alright, Kazuma. Just hold on a little longer.” Kobayashi patted his shoulder. “Koharu and Rinko have other plans, so they can’t come. And we’re only a few steps away from the flower viewing spot.”
"We can enjoy the flowers together later... It feels like a dream! I stayed up late to prepare lunch boxes for everyone." Youyou tried a little too hard.
"You are really exaggerating. Never mind. I will eat all the lunch boxes you made."
"Hey, you must be kidding, right? Don't really eat it all!"
Huihui's understanding was not accepted.
At this time, Aqua touched her chin and said, "Oh, this is so strange."
"What's wrong?"
"We should still have some distance to go to our destination, but it seems we can already see it..."
It was the Silly Goddess who volunteered to find a place to view the flowers, so no one except her knew where the real destination was.
But now that I'm here, I can only go on my way.
We came to a grove of cherry blossom trees.
Alice exclaimed, "Wow! It's a whole field of peach blossoms! This is the first time I've seen such a beautiful sight! Whenever the wind blows, the petals flutter... It's really beautiful."
This is something that only games can replicate. Although Kayaba Akihiko turned SAO into a death game, his aesthetic taste is still there, and both the scenery and architecture are top-notch.
"I can not wait anymore!"
Aqua shouted excitedly, "Xiaolin, let's start viewing the flowers now! I brought all the wine in the guild! I even learned a new party talent just for this day!"
"I was wondering what you were doing sneakily in the guild these days, and it turns out you were doing these things."
Everyone in the guild knew that the Silly Goddess liked to drink. Players who admired her immensely often bought the alcohol sold in the store at their own expense, including some very expensive and extremely rare items.
"But Aqua, you are not allowed to drink today."
"Hey——, why!"
"This is to punish you for causing us trouble just now. It's also because you will drink all this precious wine in no time."
“…Kazuma, what nonsense are you talking about! I brought the wine, and I have the right to decide whether to drink it or not!”
"Who do you think paid for all that expensive wine for a penniless person like you?"
“Wuwuwu————Kazuma, you idiot! Why are you saying such mean things?!”
The crying stupid goddess threw herself into Kobayashi's arms. It was obviously Sato Kazuma who made her cry, but in the end she was the one who suffered. Kobayashi sighed helplessly.
After making the stupid goddess cry, Sato Kazuma suddenly felt better and said, "Well, let's have a drink before we start to enjoy the flowers. Youyou, could you please pour me a cup of golden drink?"
"I-I know!"
"Oh, the fluttering petals floating on the wine glass are so elegant. Look at me drinking it all in one breath... Whew! It feels so good!"
Youyou poured wine for him, and the stupid goddess cried even harder, while Sato Kazuma drank with relish amidst the crying.
Enough of you!
“No, that’s not fair!” Aqua begged, “Mr. Kazuma, I was wrong for what happened today! I apologize to you, so give me a sip too!”
"I don't want to! Youyou, please pour me another cup. Okay, okay, that's about enough--"
After saying that, Sato Kazuma, who was still feeling proud, suddenly fell down.
"...Huh?"
Everyone was stunned for a moment.
Xiaolin looked at Aqua in confusion: "Is there a drunken state in this game?"
"I don't know, but I've never been drunk. And Kazuma isn't someone who has a poor alcohol tolerance, so what's the big deal about just one glass?" Aqua looked at the half bottle of wine left in Youyou's hand with envy.
Not to mention the game, no matter whether in the God Realm or in the other world, the stupid goddess has never drunk a poured glass of wine, so she is a little eager.
"what happened?"
“I don’t know. But the most urgent thing is to wake Kazuma up quickly. Aqua, don’t think about drinking it secretly. It might be a wine with special status. Yunyun, put the wine back to the prop column.”
"Okay, okay!"
Youyou took the wine away, the stupid goddess lowered her head in disappointment, then patted Sato Kazuma's cheek and began to call him.
“Kazuma… Kazuma-san! Kazuma-san!”
"Um...this is..."
After a long time, Sato Kazuma finally woke up.
Aqua said fearfully, “Finally you woke up! Kazuma, you wouldn’t wake up no matter how hard I called you. I thought you were dead!”
"Huh? Didn't I have lunch with Alice and the others during lunch break... and live the life of having a harem of beautiful girls in the island country that I always dreamed of?" Sato Kazuma said shocking words.
"I won't ask you what you dreamed about, but you are still in SAO," Kobayashi explained.
Darkness thought for a moment and said, “It seems like he really fell into someone’s illusion. If it weren’t for Aqua, who knows what would happen now…”
“Let me remind you, Darkness, this is a game, Aqua’s abilities are useless here.” Megumin also said, “Kazuma, you kept talking in your sleep that we couldn’t understand, and it made us worried. It was like something cliché or not.”
"Huh? Where's Alice?"
"Brother, I'm here!"
Alice said with concern: "That's great. I was so worried that my brother would lose consciousness——"
You can imagine what it means to lose consciousness in a death game.
But I never expected it.
Sato Kazuma was surprised and asked, "What do you mean, 'brother'? Why are you so reserved in calling me that? Are you rehearsing a play?"
“Onii-sama…? I usually call you Onii-sama like this—”
“Besides, you and I are not related by blood, so you don’t have to call me brother anymore. You can just call me Kazuma.”
"what?"
Alice was also surprised.
Kureya couldn't stand it anymore and scolded, "Hey, Sato Kazuma, I won't allow you to be so disrespectful to Alice!"
"Teacher Kureya, this is just a time for the two of us, could you please stop interrupting?"
"What...what do you mean by calling me teacher?"
"And Youyou, let's take a bath together after we get back."
“One, take a bath together? Mr. Kazuma, what’s wrong with you…”
……
Although Kobayashi didn't know what kind of dream Sato Kazuma had, he seemed to have guessed the general situation from his previous remarks.
The only question is, can you force hallucinations like this in games? No, since you can feel touch, pain, and taste, it is not impossible to have hallucinations.
Aqua covered her mouth and laughed.
"It seems that he was too comfortable in his hallucinations and his brain was damaged."
Darkness said as if she was coaxing a child, “Kazuma, it’s time to wake up. Everything you just saw was just an illusion.”
"You're lying! How could that world be an illusion? Everything there is so good to me, and there are beautiful girls courting me. It's the world of my dreams!"
Sato Kazuma didn't want to admit it.
But why was Kazuma the only one who was hallucinating?
liqueur?
There are no other additional factors besides wine, right?
“Wait, Kazuma.” Kureya stopped Sato Kazuma who was still trying to drink: “That wine can make people lose consciousness. You should know what losing consciousness means in this game. If you never wake up like that, your life will be in danger.”
"What is that? It's so scary."
"Now that you know this, you should be even more grateful to your companions who rescued you."
"Well……"
Sato Kazuma looked slightly unhappy.
Aqua put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "In other words, this goddess is Kazuma's savior! So, it's okay for me to drink as much as I want today, right?"
"Okay, I get it! It doesn't matter how much you want to drink!"
"Great! Then let's do it again!"
Aqua raised the glass in her right hand and shouted, "Everyone has a drink in your hand, right? ... One, two!"
"Cheers——!"
------
In a dark space, a middle-aged man with glasses but an ordinary appearance was looking at several screens assembled in front of him.
There were many people on the screen, including Kirito, Asuna, Agil, Argo, Rinko, and Koharu, but in the center of the screen was a group of Krillin and others laughing and talking happily.
“Still can’t find the source of the account?”
He pinched his chin, and for some reason he felt a little unsure about his genius mind. At least from what we can see so far, these players with unknown accounts have not done anything strange, nor have they found any system bugs to exploit.
But we can't completely let our guard down, so let's observe him more closely.
While thinking, he called up an operation page, and then decisively corrected the effect of the wine displayed on it, making it an ordinary golden wine again.
(End of this chapter)