Chapter 60: The Visit of Kirigaya the Elder

If you want to insult me like that, fine, but knowing you as I do, you wouldn’t come to me unless you needed something.

If you make me unhappy, are you sure I’ll still agree to help you?

Hearing Shengzai’s words, Kirigaya froze solid.

Right, given Shengzai’s personality, if he’s annoyed, getting him to help is impossible.

Since childhood, he’s always understood me inside out—and he’s always had me wrapped around his finger; this time seems no different.

But Kirigaya thought again: he’d taken so many losses before, what was one more?

Embracing the spirit of a true man who can bend and stretch, Kirigaya immediately forced a hideous smile. “Don’t talk like that—we’ve been best friends since we were kids!

Yui just told me: how could my best friend possibly be some perverted lolicon…?”

“Cut the crap. Just tell me straight—what do you want me to help you with this time?”

Shengzai seemed unaccustomed to Kirigaya’s current demeanor—and this guy was terrible at flattery, each attempt stiff and unnatural—so before Kirigaya finished speaking, Shengzai waved his hand to cut him off.

Though Shengzai’s earlier teasing about showing up only when needing help had embarrassed Kirigaya, thinking of the real matter, he fixed his gaze on Shengzai and spoke seriously: “Actually, I came here to ask you to accompany me on a dungeon run.”

Upon hearing Kirigaya’s request, Shengzai first blinked in surprise, then looked at him intently. “Has the Gonglvezu found the boss room on the latest floor?

But isn’t Asuna usually the one who contacts me? Why are you here in person?”

Since the group successfully cleared the first-floor boss, half a year had passed again.

The success of clearing the first floor had ignited the players’ morale.

In just half a year, the original group of players—the “ Gonglvezu ”—had surged forward like a breaking dam, pushing the cleared floor count all the way to the current 30th floor.

Shengzai, Kirigaya, and Asuna were all members of the Gonglvezu , and all were extremely famous: known respectively as “The Saint,” “The Black-Cloaked Swordsman,” and “The Flash.”

Kirigaya preferred solo play; Asuna joined the top guild, the Blood Alliance Knights; and Shengzai usually stayed within his own merchant guild.

The three rarely met or cooperated except during floor boss clears.

Asuna was now the leader of the Gonglvezu ; whenever she found a boss room, she contacted Shengzai immediately.

Shengzai would then recruit Kirigaya, and the trio would Lianshou clear the boss together.

Asuna was now vice-leader of the Blood Alliance Knights and had repeatedly invited Shengzai and Kirigaya to join—but both had refused, citing various excuses.

“It’s not a floor boss—it’s just a regular dungeon run, around level 28 in difficulty.”

Shengzai, who had assumed Kirigaya was inviting him to clear a floor boss, froze again upon hearing this, then frowned in confusion. “If I recall correctly, your level is already 48, right?

With your level and skill, exploring the 28th floor? You’re seriously asking me to tag along? Are you kidding?”

Upon hearing Kirigaya wanted his help, Shengzai’s first thought was that he was being mocked.

The dungeon zone on Aincrad’s 28th floor might pose some danger to ordinary Gonglvezu members.

But for Kirigaya, who preferred solo play and crushed higher-level monsters as easily as eating and drinking, exploring there was no different from a spring outing.

Seeing his friend’s reaction, Kirigaya realized he hadn’t explained clearly enough, so he added: “Actually, there are other people involved too…”

Hearing this, Shengzai first assumed it was Asuna—but quickly dismissed the thought, because if it were her, she’d never come to him.

Asuna was no longer a newbie; as “The Flash,” she could roam the 28th floor without fear.

“It’s not Asuna—it’s a few players from a guild called ‘Moonlit Black Cat Guild.’

Their levels are low, but they wanted to try exploring higher zones. I couldn’t stop them, so I brought you along as insurance.”

Kirigaya then began telling Shengzai about what he’d experienced recently.

Simply put: Kirigaya, who had always been a solo player, accidentally met a few members of the Moonlit Black Cat Guild, and under their influence, eventually joined.

But he didn’t want to be distanced by others because he was a Gonglvezu veteran, so he hid his true level and strength.

After all, since childhood, Kirigaya had almost no friends his age except Shengzai—and he truly enjoyed the atmosphere of the Moonlit Black Cat Guild.

Kirigaya knew exactly how strong the Moonlit Black Cat Guild was; though he’d secretly helped them steadily improve, their power remained limited.

With such strength, attempting to explore the still-frontline 28th floor was far too dangerous.

Sitting across from him, Shengzai had already recognized who they were the moment Kirigaya mentioned “Moonlit Black Cat Guild.”

Though the Moonlit Black Cat Guild appeared only briefly in the original plot, it was precisely because of that incident that Kirigaya drifted further into solo play.

The member who left the deepest impression on Shengzai was a girl named “Sachi.”

She was Kirigaya’s true first love—the first girl he ever liked before falling for Yui.

And if Shengzai remembered correctly, Kirigaya and Sachi had even set up a shared inventory page.

In games, when male and female players did that, it was universally understood as a romantic relationship; take it further, and they’d set everything—items and gold—to shared ownership, like marriage.

“So you’re telling me you came here today just to get me to act as your babysitter?

Isn’t solo play good enough for you? Don’t you remember what I told you before? You’re a guild curse—any guild you join gets destroyed.”

This wasn’t Shengzai making it up—he genuinely believed Kirigaya might have such a curse.

He joined the Moonlit Black Cat Guild, and they got wiped out. Then Asuna invited him into the Blood Alliance Knights, and it turned out their leader was none other than Kayaba Akihiko.

Though the Blood Alliance Knights weren’t wiped out, their leader being the main villain meant they were essentially dead in all but name.

(End of Chapter)