Chapter 111: Reunion with Kirito, the Moonlit Black Cats

In the central plaza of the 20th Floor of Aincrad, a flash of white light shone, and Lingyun appeared in the plaza with Yuuki.

Because the Clearers had not been able to find the location of the Boss Room in the Labyrinth Area for some time, it had piqued the interest of Luo Yexi and the others, so they had all run off to search for the 22nd Floor's floor-boss room, leaving only Yuuki by Lingyun's side to learn swordsmanship.

"Teacher, when will Sister Ye Xi and the others be back?" Yuuki asked softly.

"Given their temperaments, I'm afraid they won't be back until evening," Lingyun shrugged.

"Hey, Lingyun, long time no see!" A voice rang out behind Lingyun.

Lingyun's heart skipped a beat. Although his perception had been suppressed quite a bit due to his game level, he had never seen anyone else in the game who could approach him silently besides Lingqi and the others. However, the person greeting him was clearly not one of them.

Lingyun turned his head, only to see an acquaintance he hadn't seen for a long time—Kirito.

"Kirito, long time no see!" Lingyun snapped out of it and greeted Kirito with a smile.

But his gaze couldn't help but scan Kirito up and down. He discovered that there was an inexplicable, unfamiliar aura about Kirito. Although this aura was very strange to him, it gave him a sense of shock. He could be certain that this was definitely not something that originally existed in SAO. Moreover, before this, Kirito absolutely did not have the ability to approach him without being detected.

"Lingyun, don't you know it's very rude to stare at a girl like that?" Kirito felt somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by Lingyun and gave Lingyun's shoulder a hard pat.

"It's nothing, it's just been a while since I've seen you, and I wanted to see if you'd changed at all," Lingyun realized his behavior was quite rude, laughed it off, and changed the subject.

"Teacher, is this the Sister Kirito you told me about before?" Watching Lingyun and Kirito chatting happily, Yuuki tugged on his sleeve with some curiosity.

"That's right, she is Kirito, one of the few friends I have in this world," Lingyun introduced her to Yuuki with a smile, then turned to Kirito, "Kirito, this is my, um, current student, Yuuki."

"Nice to meet you, little sister Yuuki!" Kirito smiled and waved at Yuuki.

"Nice to meet you, Sister!" Yuuki replied politely, her eyes scanning Kirito up and down. *So this is the Sister Kirito that Sister Ye Xi told me about? I heard her strength is very high; I wonder how I compare to her. * However, it would be impolite to suggest a spar upon first meeting, so Yuuki temporarily suppressed the thought.

"Kirito, so you're here!" While Lingyun and Kirito were discussing recent events, a male voice came from the side.

Lingyun turned his head to look and saw a boy walking in their direction.

"Who is this?" The man who walked up to Kirito's side saw Lingyun and asked with some curiosity.

"Ah, let me introduce you. This is my friend, Lingyun," Kirito said to the man. "Lingyun, this is my guild leader—Keita."

"Hello!" Lingyun greeted the newcomer with a smile.

"Moonlit Black Cats? It seems Kirito has joined this small group just like in the original story!"

After Keita appeared, three men and one woman appeared one after another behind him. Under Kirito's introduction, Lingyun also noted their names: Tetsuo, Ducker, Sasamaru, and Sachi.

"Lingyun, could this be the legendary Phantom Sword Lingyun?" Keita looked at Lingyun, his mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Phantom Sword? Is that Teacher's title?" A glimmer of light flashed in Yuuki's eyes from the side.

"Kirito, you actually know the famous Phantom Sword; this is truly surprising!" Tetsuo said to Kirito with a smile.

Sachi, standing to the side, also stared at Kirito with wide eyes.

Seeing her friends acting as if they had seen a big celebrity, Kirito helplessly spread her hands toward Lingyun.

"Kirito, when did you join this guild?" Lingyun asked Kirito with a smile.

"Ah, that was a while ago. After I finished a quest and wanted to return to the Town, I saw Keita and the others being surrounded by monsters, so I just happened to save them. Later, I felt the atmosphere of this group was good, so I joined them!" Kirito said with a smile.

"So that's how it is," Lingyun nodded.

Keita's gaze scanned back and forth between Lingyun and Kirito, then he said to Kirito, "Um, Kirito, it's rare for you to see a friend, so we'll go turn in that quest first and won't disturb you two!"

Kirito was stunned for a moment, then nodded at Keita.

After receiving Kirito's response, Keita led the other members of the Moonlit Black Cats through the crowd and disappeared into the throng of people.

"It's not convenient to talk here, let's find a tavern and sit down!" Lingyun said to Kirito.

"Okay!" Kirito nodded.

The three of them arrived at a tavern and found a table to sit at.

"Kirito, where have you been all this time? Suguha has been very worried about you!" Lingyun said to Kirito.

"Haha, it's nothing, I just went to do a rather complicated quest and got stuck in a closed map where I couldn't communicate with anyone else. But I've already told Suguha and the others before, and let them know not to worry!" Kirito laughed somewhat embarrassedly, stuck her tongue out at Lingyun, and unconsciously acted cute. "Besides, after I got out of that place, I already sent word to Suguha that I was safe!"

"Let's leave it at that. I think Suguha will come to find you herself in a while!" Lingyun opened his mailbox and checked his new messages.

"By the way, how has Suguha been doing lately?" Mentioning Suguha, Kirito was also vaguely worried.

"As for that, you don't need to worry. After all, she has Busujima Saeko looking after her, so nothing will happen to her," Lingyun waved his hand. "On the other hand, Asuna has been asking me for news about you quite a bit lately!"

"Asuna, huh!" Kirito's tone was somewhat complex; after all, when she used that strange Teleport Crystal, she had had a disagreement with her.

"She has now joined a famous guild among the Clearers—the Blood Oath Knights—and it looks like she's doing quite well there!" Lingyun said.

"Mm, I see," Kirito replied, then her gaze fell on Yuuki. "Lingyun, for Yuuki to become your student, she must be very talented, right?"

"That's right, Yuuki is a very outstanding student; her strength is quite high now!" Mentioning his student Yuuki, Lingyun felt a bit proud.

"Even such a young child has been dragged into this world?" What Kirito was thinking was completely different from Lingyun.

"Don't worry, this world will be cleared one day, won't it? As long as we take good care of these children during this time, that is the most important thing, isn't it?" Lingyun comforted her.

"I know, I just don't know when this world will be cleared!" Kirito looked at the sky outside the tavern and said, somewhat lost in thought. "Besides, this world is far from as simple as it looks!"

"Is that so?" Lingyun looked at Kirito's distracted expression, deep in thought. Could it be that Kirito had already come into contact with some of the truths of this world?