Chapter 20: The Outrageous NPC
The strategy ended smoothly, and at Lind's suggestion, the entire group decided to head to the third floor.
'Probably trying to emphasize the sense of camaraderie.'
Nezha was talking with his companions, holding hands.
"Looks like the 'Legendary Hero' guild is going to continue." "Yeah, seems like it. That's great." "Well, that's not a bad thing."
Just as the three of them were about to head toward the stairs to the third floor, the long-silent Kibaou walked over to Hachiman and Asuna, saying briefly:
"Thanks."
But when it came to Kirito, he seemed unable to speak and ended up just saying:
"I'll see you again next time."
Then he followed his companions up the stairs.
"He said he'll be there to help next time too." "Sounds like him." "Then we've got to keep doing our best too."
At that moment, Nezha came running over.
After bowing, he smiled and said that this time, it was his turn to support his companions.
After the three of them offered their encouragement, Nezha returned to his team.
As everyone began climbing the long staircase to the third floor, Argo appeared at the back of the group at some unknown point.
"Kirito, that final move was pretty smooth." "I just did what I could." "I think without you, it would've been dangerous this time." "Though, this really is just like you." "Still underestimating yourself as always..." "Idiot, you guys are just overrating me."
When they finally reached the third floor, what lay before their eyes was an expansive forest.
"It's forest as far as the eye can see..." "Over there is the third floor's main town—Zymfort." "I want to rest first... I'm so exhausted..." "Maybe I'm just letting my guard down, so now the fatigue really hits…" "You two did follow me around for nearly two days without rest."
Hachiman and Asuna collapsed to the ground, and Nezha slumped down like a puppet with its strings cut.
Seeing Nezha had taken the worst toll, Kirito helped him toward the guild group.
"Alright, let's wrap things up too."
After Lind and Kibaou activated the teleport gate, everyone began their return journey.
Kirito headed to the inn on the second floor, while Hachiman and Asuna returned to their usual inn on the first floor. A
rgo handed them a guidebook to the third floor, saying it was part of their reward, and then vanished.
"Asuna, don't fall asleep in the bath." "Mmm... That might be difficult." "Seriously, be careful."
After seeing Asuna back to her inn, Hachiman collapsed on his own bed and instantly fell asleep.
The next day, he didn't get out of bed until well past noon.
The desire to not get up was unusually strong.
Having been trapped in SAO, Hachiman had perhaps truly overworked himself.
"At this rate, I'm going to burn through all my life's energy..."
Just as he was about to go back to sleep, a message from Asuna arrived.
She suggested taking the day off, but wanted to chat while going over the guidebook.
Since she was nearby anyway, Hachiman agreed and started preparing.
When he arrived at Asuna's room, she had already taken out the guidebook and began explaining:
"I just took a quick tour of Zymfort with Liz." "You've got energy, huh..." "Ran into Kirito and Nezha on the way and chatted a bit." "Nezha should be more tired than I am though..." "This battle quest mentioned in the guide, they said it requires a two-person team." "That one... The reward's good but it's really hard. Let's give it a try." "That's what I thought too. Shall we go tomorrow?" "Before that, I want to get used to forest battles. I'll take Liz to level up and get familiar with the terrain. How about the day after tomorrow?" "True, we were just running around non-stop on the last floor. Sounds good! I'll contact Liz."
The next day, while the three of them were hunting and moving around, they discussed important points:
"With limited visibility, we need to watch for ambushes." "Hammers are hard to swing here." "I also can't turn around to defend easily." "Staying near the square might be safest."
After wrapping up the day's battle with satisfactory results, Asuna invited Lisbeth to join the quest:
"My level's still too low. I'll sit this one out. You two be careful."
On the day the quest scenario began, Hachiman and Asuna headed to the planned departure point.
"The quest starts in a place called the Lost Mist Forest." "According to Kirito, we'll encounter a battle between forest elves and dark elves." "Once we choose a faction, when HP drops below half, our allied NPC will use a miracle power to defeat the enemy, but will die in the process." "So both sides will die..." "We have to bring the dropped item to the faction's base." "What does choosing a faction affect?" "I don't know either."
When they arrived, two NPCs with the quest marker [!] above their heads were already fighting overhead.
The forest elf was male, while the dark elf was... female.
"Hachiman-kun." "We're helping the dark elf, right? Helping the guy in this situation just feels..." "Thank you!"
As the two of them jumped in, the markers above the NPCs changed to [?].
"I can't believe there are humans in the forest!" "Who are you?"
Without speaking, the two turned their backs to the dark elf and aimed their weapons at the forest elf.
Upon joining the battle, the indicator above the forest elf turned into a deep, nearly black red—marking it as a powerful enemy far beyond player level.
"How dare you side with the dark elves! Die by my sword!" "You're the one who's going to die!"
'Asuna's really fired up...'
"Hey, Asuna. Defense, defense." "I know, Hachiman. I'll defend to the end!" 'Really? I feel like I have to take this seriously… If we let up, we'll be wiped out fast.'
About ten minutes later, the forest elf turned into light and disappeared before them.
"We actually won..." "As expected of Hachiman-kun, the human-type monster specialist." "Honestly, I was really hopeless at first..." "Thank you both for your cooperation."
The two of them turned around suddenly to see who had spoken.
The marker above her head was [?], and the quest seemed to be progressing smoothly.
The cursor had turned yellow—indicating a friendly NPC.
"My name is Kizmel. Thanks to you, I was able to protect the key."
She introduced herself, then carefully picked up a cloth pouch dropped by the forest elf, hugging it to her chest and whispering softly.
"With this, the cathedral is safe for now."
Her eyes seemed to hold a complex mix of emotions.
"Thank you again. The commander will reward you. Please come with us back to the camp." "We'll take you up on that." "Uh, Asuna, you need to clearly say YES or NO to the NPC..." "Alright then, I'll show you around. Follow me."
Asuna answered, and Hachiman was about to correct her, but...
What surprised him was that Kizmel seemed to fully understand what Asuna said.
Led by Kizmel, the two of them headed to the dark elf camp.
At the same time, a system message appeared:
A new member has joined your party. Kizmel has become a party member.
The two were shocked to find that Kizmel looked no different from a player.
She invited them to the dark elf camp.
What was astonishing was that Kizmel's AI behavior was no different from a real person—not only understanding natural conversation but also defeating monsters along the way effortlessly.
"Hachiman-kun, I don't know much about this stuff, but is this even possible through programming?" "I'm shocked too... This is like a high-performance AI. That's the only explanation I can think
of." "It's amazing... she's just like a normal person."
And just like that, the three of them arrived at the dark elf camp.