Chapter 20: Simultaneous Transmigration, Ability Sharing!

“Actually, besides apologizing, there’s another matter.”

“I’m wondering if either of you has considered joining a guild?”

Asuna: “(_? What’s that?”

Kirito: “A guild is… to put it simply, it’s like a school club—a group of people with shared goals who act together.”

“Are you planning to form a game guild, Mr. Diabel?”

Kirito first explained the concept of a game guild to the new player Asuna, then turned to Diabel and asked.

“Yes, I’ve been considering it. As you’ve seen during this raid.”

“With organized efforts, the difficulty and casualty rate drop significantly, and the success rate of clearing increases substantially.”

“Both of you have exceptional skill and control. To help everyone clear this game faster, I’d like to invite you to join my guild—so we can coordinate future floor boss raids like today.”

Although he didn’t get the special reward this time, Diabel wasn’t overly concerned—he’d have other chances later.

Moreover, this raid had shown Diabel just how strong Kirito and Asuna truly were.

Shengzai didn’t seem like someone easy to recruit, so he’d start with Kirito and Asuna.

Asuna had both looks and skill—once she joined, his guild would have a flagship member, and more people would naturally follow.

As for Kirito, aside from his own strength, he seemed to be Shengzai’s close friend.

If Kirito joined, Shengzai might follow suit.

With the reputation and resources of the ‘Saint,’ their guild could grow rapidly.

Diabel’s calculations were so sharp, the abacus beads seemed ready to fly straight into Kirito and Asuna’s faces.

Yet for Diabel’s sincere, morally upright invitation, Kirito and Asuna’s response was…

Kirito: “I’m sorry, but I’m used to going solo—I don’t even travel with Shengzai anymore.”

“And I dislike being bound by rules. But if there’s a raid like today’s, just call me—I won’t refuse.”

Asuna: “I’m pretty much the same as this guy, so sorry.”

Asuna was lying. Compared to Kirito, she wasn’t particularly opposed to joining a guild.

But… Diabel’s earlier actions, though she’d just forgiven him, still made her fundamentally distrust him.

She simply couldn’t bring herself to trust someone like him.

If she had to team up, she’d rather go with Shengzai and Kirito.

Kirito, as a gaming otaku, was as transparent on the outside as he was on the inside.

Shengzai… outwardly cheerful, but inwardly seemed dark, mature, intelligent, and just now revealed his sharp tongue.

In short, she couldn’t figure out what kind of person Shengzai really was—but one thing Asuna was certain of.

Shengzai was definitely not a bad person. Don’t ask why—ask and you’ll get: woman’s intuition!

Perhaps, as Shengzai said, she and Kirito were just two naive, innocent high schoolers.

But it didn’t matter if they didn’t understand the world’s cruelty—as long as Shengzai did.

If even Shengzai refused to talk to Diabel, then Diabel wasn’t worth trusting.

On the other side, Shengzai, already in Layer Two, had no idea Diabel had offered a hand to Kirito and Asuna—and been turned down.

Because the moment he entered Layer Two, the long-dormant system suddenly notified him that his system activation quest was complete, and urged him to find a safe place to enter “Heart-Dream Between.”

Shengzai quickly found an NPC inn, rented a room, and avoided potential attacks.

Then, soon after, he entered the so-called “Heart-Dream Between.”

The “Heart-Dream Between” was a vast, boundless white space, filled with countless unopened doors.

Shengzai had arrived here by walking down an extremely long corridor and pushing open a single door.

He soon realized the door he’d come through was merely one among many.

“Click—!”

Shortly after entering this white space, a door not far from him opened.

When Shengzai saw who walked through, he froze.

The newcomer wore a black school uniform—different from his own—but otherwise looked exactly like him.

Both Shengzais were stunned upon seeing each other, but after brief shock, they quickly accepted the reality.

After all, being a transmigrator was already absurd enough.

Given that foundation, any other unnatural phenomenon seemed perfectly plausible.

“So… you’re also me, just transmigrated into the Prince of Tennis world?”

After brief exchange, the two Shengzais finally understood what Zizzi meant by the true “cheat.”

After physical contact, Sword Shengzai instantly gained countless memories and abilities.

These memories and abilities felt as natural as if he’d always possessed them.

Since they were both Shengzai, the fusion of memories and abilities caused zero resistance—it felt as though he’d always had them.

Tennis Shengzai experienced the same: as a student in his world, he naturally played tennis.

After all, in that world, if you didn’t play tennis, you couldn’t rise to prominence.

Thus, Tennis Shengzai had trained since childhood to develop excellent physical conditioning and dynamic vision.

Though both were middle schoolers and had trained hard, their physical stats still lagged far behind adults.

But now, after sharing abilities, Sword Shengzai and Tennis Shengzai found their combined physical stats were no longer inferior to adults—indeed, they surpassed them!

Beyond physical enhancement, both sensed massive improvements in other areas, boosted by each other’s strengths.

Sword Shengzai gained Tennis Shengzai’s superior dynamic vision and endurance.

Tennis Shengzai gained Sword Shengzai’s swordsmanship, reflexes, and burst power.

(End of Chapter)