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Chapter 403: Chapter 399 ~ Moonlit Adventures

"Alright, I'll be going out for a bit! Yuuji-san, Asuna-san, please look after the kids for a bit."

Keita smiled, standing on Taft's teleportation plaza and ignoring the look of dissatisfaction from his friends. 

"Ah, good luck on your negotiations. We'll be waiting for the good news."

Keita nodded at Yuuji. 

"Teleport. Town of Beginnings!"

The teleportation circle lit up, and in the next moment, Keita's figure vanished along with the light. 

"So we're finally getting our own home, huh? It's such an amazing feeling."

"Quite acting like an old man."

Ducker jabbed Sasamaru on the side playfully, and the group all laughed, still relishing in this celebratory feeling. 

"Then, let's go do our thing too and farm some Cols."

"Alright! Let's go to the labyrinth on the 27th floor!"

"Uhn! Then, we can buy some new furniture too! Let's choose one together, Kirito!"

"A-Ah…"

The Moonlit Black Cats had made a plan to farm Cols while Keita was out buying their guild base in the Town of Beginnings. 

They wanted to surprise him and also begin farming the currency to buy the many necessities for their new home. 

And to gain Cols as quickly as they could, they decided to go to a Labyrinth on the higher floors. 

Although their usual hunting grounds were fine, they wouldn't be able to gain enough Cols to buy furniture and other things for their new home. 

Moreover, they also wanted to do a house warming party! And this time, with better food from higher floors!

Kirito was against the idea at first. However, since Yuuji and Asuna agreed to come along as well, he relented. 

With those two monsters with them, even if they encountered a hidden boss, they would be fine.

"Alright! Yuuji-san, Asuna-san, you're coming as well, right?"

"Yes. We'd like to congratulate you guys for your first guild base. So any item drop we got, we'll give them to you."

"Mm. After all, it's a big thing you've accomplished, so we want to help out, even if it's just a little."

"Really? Thank you very much! That'll be a great help!"

Tetsuo lowered his head in gratitude to Yuuji and Asuna, and Yuuji simply waved his hand dismissively. 

"It's nothing. Then, shall we go?"

""Yes!""

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

A land of perpetual darkness. 

Instead of sunlight, the floor was illuminated by numerous stalactites that hung unevenly from the ceiling of the next floor. And above those were large prismatic gems which let out a hazy blue glow.

Craggy, rocky mountains surrounded the floor. And from it, similar crystals that glowed with hazy blue illuminated the ground in the sun's stead. 

Unlike other floors, the Labyrinth did not stand tall and pierced the sky. Instead, it was carved out of one of the largest mountains on the floor. 

Many crystal hexagonal prisms about the size of small houses stretched out from the base of the tower, illuminating the tower just enough with blue phosphorescence. 

Then, shortly after the entrance, the natural cave gave way to a slate-tiled, man-made tunnel.

The floor was rich in ore items and was therefore popular among the artisan players in Sword Art Online.

In other words, a fertile farming ground to collect as many ores as possible and sell them off to the artisan players. And if they were lucky, they could auction off the rare ones they found that would earn them more than a month's worth of effort on their usual hunting grounds. 

And so far, their journey into the labyrinth had been so smooth that they wondered why they hadn't designated this place as their hunting grounds earlier. 

Though… that question was answered as quickly as they wondered about it. 

In terms of levels and equipment, they were now perfectly capable of engaging a small group of monsters in the outer and middle part of the Labyrinth. 

As long as the number of enemies didn't exceed the number of their tanks, which were mainly Tetsuo and Kirito who served as their off-tank, they'd be able to emerge victorious. 

Engaging in three of them at the same time would require Sacchi to take the aggro of one of the monsters to let Ducker and Sasamaru deal damage to it before moving on the the others being aggroed by Tetsuo and Kirito. Which was… less than ideal. 

Although she had improved greatly since Kirito joined, it was still difficult for her to break out of her fear and stand on the front lines. 

They knew that the only reason they were able to proceed through the labyrinth this quickly, even reaching the border between middle and inner part of the dungeon, was solely due to the two monsters they've brought along. 

"That is… really amazing…"

"Damn… Is this just because they're high leveled?"

Ducker couldn't help but wonder. If he were to level up to Yuuji and Asuna's level, would he be able to plough through these monsters as quickly and as efficiently as they could? 

But his fantasy was quickly shattered by Kirito's words. 

"No… Most players on their level can't do even half the things they're doing. They're just monsters. Don't think too much about it. 

Kirito shook his head, looking at the two with a similar look of disbelief. 

He didn't know what level they were now. It must be something high like level 50 or something absurd. 

But even then, he was sure that players of that level wouldn't be able to do the things they're currently doing… 

It wasn't only their damage…

Their skill in evading, parrying, chaining sword skills while also seamlessly weaving in parts of their normal attacks, were all something that couldn't be gained through simply leveling up. 

They weren't ploughing through the monsters in this floor because of the difference in their level. 

Even at higher floors, Kirito was sure that it would be the same outcome, just perhaps a bit longer. 

Even alone, they were able to handle monsters that would require a full party to engage. 

And when they work together… With such flawless "switch" and teamwork, Kirito couldn't imagine anything stopping them. 

A force of nature. 

'I can't help but feel kinda bad for the monsters…'

He chuckled, but the thought vanished as quickly as it appeared. 

"Hah… Hah…"

"Hm? Sacchi, are you okay?"

"...Uhn. I'm fine. We can keep going."

Kirito slowed down to Sachi's spear-assisted walking pace and fell back from the rest of the party. 

And before him, he could see Sasamaru, Tetsuo, and Ducker all seemed to be breathing hard. 

'Right… They're still barely level 30.'

The constant fight against monsters around their level, in addition to having to keep up with Yuuji and Asuna, quickly pushed them to the limits of their current level of endurance. 

And Kirito couldn't blame them. After all, although he was used to the two's farming speed, it was something that even he could barely keep up with. 

A jet-black sword fell from the sky, splitting a pure white ceramic golem cleanly into two. 

Beside it, another golem also ceased as holes and cracks littered its body. 

In the next instant, both golems shattered into digital light. 

Yuuji lowered his sword, holding it to his side, as Asuna walked towards him. 

"This should be the last one before the safe zone, right?"

"Yes. Further down would be the inner part of the Labyrinth. The rate of rare item drop would increase there, so if we want a chance in getting them soon, we'll have to farm in that farming spot we frequented back then."

Asuna agreed with him. But that wasn't what she meant to say. 

She nudged him with her elbow with an accusatory look on her face. And when he looked at her, she directed her gaze at the exhausted Moonlit Black Cats and a helplessly smiling Kirito.

"Ah… I'm sorry. Should we take a small break for a bit?"

"Yeah… I think that's a good idea."

Yuuji led them towards the safe zone he had scouted long when he was farming here, when the 27th floor was newly opened. 

As soon as they reached the safe zone, the Moonlit Black Cats dropped to the ground they were standing on moments ago, and let out a sigh of relief. 

Even the usually talkative Ducker and witty Sasamaru could barely squeeze out a few words before saving their breath for actually supplying their body with much needed oxygen to recover. 

"Here, have some water, Sacchi."

"Thank you, Kirito…"

Sacchi smiled softly and took the hide canteen from Kirito, gulping down multiple swigs without regarding the notion of "indirect kiss" when she normally would. 

And as they slowly regained their breath, small conversations began to fill the silence. Not many, just a few short exchanges of words as they much on some snacks to fill up their hunger bar. 

On the side, Yuuji and Asuna similarly took this chance to eat a few snacks they've made together for their travels. 

Yuuji kept a part of his attention to his surroundings, making sure no monsters were to somehow roam and sneak near their location. 

While another part naturally gravitated towards his friend and the girl who was sitting closely to him. 

'I thought it'd take him even longer than a few months… Did something happen?'

He mused inwardly. 

The boy was clearly inexperienced despite their similar ages, both romantically and generally. He wore his heart on his sleeves, though he often tried to hide his feelings with silence and distance. 

It took him quite a while to make friends, and even more to open up to them. 

So for him to open up his heart to a girl romantically, Yuuji expected him to take perhaps a year or two. 

But looking at him now, he couldn't help but feel one part impressed and one part proud of him. 

"Hey, Yuuji… As expected, there must be something in between them, right?"

Asuna whispered to his ears with a teasing tone, leaning closely against him, close enough for him to feel her breath on his ears. 

But given the number of times she whispered into his ears while she's sleep talking, he was already used to it. 

Yuuji smiled and responded. 

"I'm not sure. They're really close… Though knowing Kirito, maybe not."

"Hm~ Well, I guess I'll have something to talk to Sacchi about later~"

Yuuji pitied Sacchi for being the subject of Asuna's teasing. But he prioritized her happiness first and foremost, so he simply pitied her in his heart. 

"I didn't expect Lady Asuna to love gossip."

He smiled teasingly. But Asuna responded with confidence.

"I'm just Asuna here, so it's fine."

In this world, she could just be herself. And with Yuuji… she felt like she could be herself no matter where she was. 

"You're right. I was wrong."

Yuuji smiled and kissed her head softly, a gesture that would've immediately attracted the attention of every single member of Moonlit Black Cats if they weren't distracted by their food and each other. 

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

"Hm? Ah!"

Ducker suddenly perked up and jogged ahead of the group. 

They've been delving into the labyrinth for quite a while, dragged around by Yuuji and Asuna. And although they've gained more Cols than they ever do even in a month, their energy was quite drained. 

So his sudden burst of energy took his friends by surprise. 

Yuuji watched his yellow cloak flutter in the air as he approached a wall. And upon closer look, there were faint symbols carved into it. 

'Oh, a secret room?'

Thanks to Ai, Yuuji was able to locate all secret entrances, paths, and rooms that would lead to treasures. There was even one occasion where a hidden path underground led him to a hidden mid-boss which granted him a rare piece of equipment. 

So for him to not notice this was quite a surprise. 

'Or perhaps… it doesn't actually lead to treasure…'

He had learned about secret trap rooms from Argo's warning before, though he never encountered it before. 

Perhaps because he depended on Ai with regards to finding secret areas that he never really searched for it and focused on the monsters and leveling up. 

Ducker placed his hand upon it, and the symbols lit up, expanding and branching out, until a section of the wall began to move inward, revealing a door. 

"Oh! A treasure chest! Jackpot!"

Ducker, Sasamaru, and Tetsuo rushed inside, leaving the two couples just beyond the threshold.

"Wait!"

Yuuji glanced at Kirito and saw upon his visage a look of knowing and panic. 

"Kirito, let's enter. No matter what, it's better to be together."

"A-Alright…"

Yuuji instantly deduced what would happen from Kirito's reaction alone. 

And hearing the tone of his voice, Asuna's vigilance skyrocketed as she began observing the secret room. 

Sacchi came closer to Kirito as the two followed after Yuuji and Asuna, crossing the threshold of the door and fully entering the room. 

Ducker began dismantling the trap on the single wooden chest that sat at the center of the room. 

It took only a few clicks, easier than normal, before the lid of the chest swung open. 

In the next moment, the room was instantly filled with red. 

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