A journey to another world starting from a sword

"Thank you for your hard work." Lin De stopped the newspaper from sliding with his fingers, picked it up, and examined it in his hand.

The top news this morning is about conquering the sixth-floor boss, the Absurd Cube, in "Eternal Garden".

The second version details the strategy, revealing that the revamped "Curse of Starkion" quest is key to defeating the boss.

If you don't put the blocks you get from the quest back, the floor boss will be protected by an invisible force and won't be able to take any damage.

Furthermore, the newspaper used artistic techniques to illustrate the general process of completing the entire quest chain in "Eternal Garden".

The third edition then focuses on gossip about Cyron, the lord of Starkion. Although it is gossip, it incorporates various pieces of information, making it interesting to read. In addition, there are analyses of some similar high-value missions.

The fourth edition contains more serious content related to strategy, including important quests and shops in newly developed towns, as well as some cost-effective equipment and items. It is the most valuable information for the lower-level "catch-up group".

Having started a month or two later than the current strategy groups, their levels haven't yet reached the point where they can fight in the front-line training area. If they're just shopping in the main street of the new floor, they're safe.

It's common knowledge in the game that the more advanced the city, the more powerful the weapons and armor shops will be. So whenever you expand your town, you should buy stronger equipment to replace your old gear, as long as your finances allow.

However, the newspaper was quite cunning—the Lind faction thought so—writing that player-crafted blacksmith equipment is usually better than most shop-made equipment, and then stating that Miss Lisbeth, the most skilled blacksmith in Aincrad, has her mobile shop at the forefront.

While it's true that player-crafted equipment is stronger, every player on the front lines knows that Lisbeth is a member of "Eternal Garden"!

This put the officers of the Aincrad Union Army in a rather awkward position. They certainly couldn't openly speak ill of them, since they might have to trouble the other side if they obtained rare materials later. They couldn't just hand them over to their half-baked blacksmith brother. Their equipment was at stake, and they couldn't be careless. Moreover, even Aincrad's strongest tailor was working for the other side, which made things even more frustrating.

Thinking to myself that the other party is going to make a fortune again, I thought, "Damn it, how lucky I am!"

The later section briefly mentions the deeds of emerging criminal players, reminding ordinary players to be careful and not to act alone.

"I didn't expect them to be so quick." Lin De put down the newspaper after only reading the second page. He saw other cadres looking at the newspaper with great interest, some with serious expressions, while a few were quite animated. This made Lin De furious, and he slammed his fist on the table.

“After all, we’re still in Starkion, while they’ve already reached the seventh floor.” Adjusting his expression, Hafner put down the newspaper covering his face and echoed Lind.

But the thought of how they assembled a small team to continue their efforts to conquer the sixth floor, only to encounter a puzzle on their way to the next town on the sixth floor, which they couldn't solve after two hours, forcing them to retreat to Starkion, filled them with a sense of melancholy.

However, they were too ashamed to ask the "Eternal Garden" for help, and also because of matters within the guild, they had to temporarily leave the front lines and did not contact Argo to request information.

The task of the sixth level is to solve a few puzzles to successfully complete it through various shortcuts, which have been written into the newly published sixth level Argo guide, and this has also been mentioned in the newspaper.

"I heard that someone in the guild went to join the joint team to raid the boss?" one of the officers casually mentioned.

“What a traitor!” exclaimed another hot-tempered young cadre.

"Don't be like that." Another square-faced leader calmly shook his head. "After all that happened, it's normal for everyone in the guild to have other thoughts."

He pointed to the sacrifice of "Diabelle" mentioned on the front page of the newspaper. Diabel, the founder and chairman of the Aincrad Alliance, "the Hero," sacrificed himself to cover the retreat of his comrades. The newspaper also recorded as much detail as possible what Diabel had done in SAO.

Half of it is related to "knights," talking about the great things that "heroes" and "knights" have accomplished together in close cooperation, while the other half is about their contributions within the guild.

For this reason, Argo specifically sought out the officers of the Aincrad Union Army to gather intelligence on this matter, and the condolences were issued with their consent. The reason was that players like "Hero" Diabel should not die so quietly, a point that no one could disagree with.

However, for the sake of the overall situation, the memorial section was moved to the end, and the enormous sacrifice was only mentioned briefly, never again.

"We can't delay the strategy." Linde rested his chin on his hands, defining the matter of the emerging third-party "departure faction" within the guild.

Of course, there's also the most important thing right now—

"The important thing now is the matter of the King of Teeth."

As soon as he said that, everyone in the room turned pale, and Lin De also spoke in a gloomy tone.

"Is the other side still unwilling to compromise?"

“No, but Ya Wang said that once they get the money from the guild treasury, they will move it to the lower levels…” said Sivada, the cadre in charge of negotiations.

As for what they were going to do in the lower levels, Linde and his group knew perfectly well: they were going to train the lower-level players.

Linde and his group considered this completely meaningless. Apart from a few individuals, most lower-level players lacked the necessary mental fortitude and combat skills, making them entirely unworthy of training.

Just like the tragedy of the fifth floor, it's a group of rabble recklessly challenging the Boss, ultimately resulting in the death of the guild leader.

If it were an elite force composed of veteran members of the strategy group, possessing the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, this kind of thing wouldn't happen.

Using the money earned from the strategy group to upgrade the equipment of the "Catch-up Group" would be a huge waste, even if there are promising talents among them.

Distinguishing between players who genuinely want to join the front lines and those who simply want to comfortably scavenge for scraps from behind the front lines would waste a huge amount of manpower and energy.

Rather than adopting their own elite-first approach, as long as the strategy group continues to move forward, there will naturally be players who admire them and strive to join the strategy group.

What truly displeased Linde was that it was through this move that Ya Wang managed to recruit a group of lower-level players into his guild, enabling him to rival Linde.

Even now, Ya Wang's propositions still have many supporters and even have a slight advantage in the election. If no guild leader is elected in three days, the system will automatically initiate an election, which is unacceptable to Lin De and his people.

Allowing that sinner to win is the greatest irony of Monsieur Diabel's sacrifice.

The "Departure Faction," which currently occupies the guild, mainly consists of veterans who joined the Aincrad Alliance at the beginning or in the middle, inspired by Diabel. The reason they haven't completely left the guild and are preparing to vote for Lind in the election is because they don't want Ya-King to be elected, even though they don't actually support Lind.

"As soon as possible." Lind clenched his fist unwillingly, "...We've been away from the front lines for too long."

-----------------

"I didn't expect that Urbas would still be so lively after being away for so long."

Asuna's words made Dante look around, and indeed the second floor was even more lively than when they left.

"After all, there are thousands of players below. We only had a few dozen people when we arrived, plus some tourists."

"Is the new person we're looking for in Urbas?" Asuna asked casually, her hands behind her back, as she followed him.

It was only natural that both of them put on their hoods, otherwise Dante could imagine how many heads they would turn as they walked down the street.

At the front lines, Asuna rarely wore a hood, because everyone there was someone she knew, or at least someone she recognized. They wouldn't be staring at this powerful female player who was already quite famous in the strategy group.

“Yes, Argo said the other side is operating from the second floor.”

However, according to Argo, the other party has already obtained the rare short sword that drops from the minotaur monsters in the second level of the dungeon, and has started activities in the third level.

The reason they live on the second floor now is simply because they haven't had time to move yet. As for why the other person doesn't live on the first floor where the facilities are more complete, Dante guesses that the reason might be that they occasionally think of "that day" in the starting town.

“Ulbas is actually not bad.” Asuna agreed with the other’s taste. “The fourth floor is a water city that is inconvenient to move around in. The ruins on the fifth floor could easily lead you outside the circle at any time. The sixth floor is even worse. You might not even be able to open the inn. Compared to that, the second floor is indeed more suitable for living.”

Hearing Asuna say that, Dante remembered something else: "I remember Wolf said that his dream was to make money and open a steakhouse on the second floor."

"Mr. Wolf is Mr. Agil's companion, isn't he?" Asuna recalled the appearance of the disheveled, long brown hair combed back, which she had just seen during the Boss raid that morning.

“Yes, yes.” Dante sincerely praised Asuna’s good memory, and then said, “According to him, his name also comes from a famous American steakhouse.”

"Just how much does he love steak...?" Asuna sighed.

"Who knows?" Dante shrugged. "But their old men's army really seems to have a lot in common."

He said this because Agil had inadvertently acquired a "vendor's rug," seemingly indicating his intention to formally embark on the path of commerce.

"Uncle is..." Asuna covered her mouth and chuckled twice, "Next time I see Mr. Agil and the others, I'll tell them that Dante, that's what you said about them."

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Agil’s legion of uncles all had bushy beards, making it hard not to notice their age.

"Mmm." Asuna didn't say anything, but jogged a few steps to walk in front. "By the way, how exactly did Argo meet him?"

Realizing that Asuna was talking about the newcomer, Dante replied without hesitation, "It seems that Argo discovered the other person by accident when he came to the lower levels to investigate a rare mission."

"The other person is also a girl, right?" Asuna confirmed.

She was well aware of the outcome of this trip, after all, they had now replaced the Aincrad Alliance as the most famous guild in SAO.

“Yes.” Dante nodded.

"Seriously, why is our guild all girls?" Asuna glanced at someone and complained.

"Don't say that, I did try my best." Dante raised his hands and said, he didn't want the male-to-female ratio in the guild to be unbalanced either!

"You mean inviting Kirito-san, right?" Asuna knew about this; Dante had mentioned it to her.

"Although I expected to fail." With a sigh, Dante knew that Kirito hadn't even joined the Agil guild, which was full of middle-aged men and with whom he often acted, so he certainly wouldn't join his guild, which was full of pretty girls.

"It's a bit of a shame, though. It's normal for solo players to die at any time." Asuna felt that with his strength, joining a strategy group would be a good choice for everyone. "I wonder when he'll choose to join a guild."

"Let's wait until he feels lonely someday, or until he finds a guild that makes him feel warm and fuzzy," Dante said with a sigh, tilting his head. "But perhaps we can try inviting Yuna's childhood friend after she's grown up."

“150 points of proficiency…” Asuna muttered with a complicated expression, feeling it was unrealistic. Then she remembered, “Speaking of which, you didn’t invite Ashura and Yuna.”

“Yuna and Ashura aren’t combat players, so they’ll definitely have concerns about cooperating with us after joining the guild. Now isn’t a good time to invite them,” Dante said pointedly.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Asuna agreed with him, since not every guild leader would lead their entire group to camp out in the labyrinth area.

"It was coming from ahead."

"We're almost at our destination," Dante pointed ahead, and Asuna slowed down, returning to walking parallel to the ground.

"Wait! Isn't this...?" Asuna stared in astonishment at the dessert shop in front of her, the one that sold the giant strawberry cake, which she had eaten at three or four times already.

“Yes, I asked Argo to tell them to meet here.”

Chapter 137: The Guild's Newcomer

Pushing open the door, the bell hanging on the door frame rings out three pleasant "ding-a-ling" sounds, which are not noisy but still remind people that new customers have arrived.

To Dante and Asuna's surprise, the store was filled with female players and very few male players in the afternoon, whereas it was completely empty when they last came.

It seems that with a large influx of players into the second floor, this shop is no longer so obscure.

Of course, this may also be related to Argo writing the shop's address in the latest newspaper. Although it was a form of unpaid advertising, NPC dessert shops don't pay for advertising.

But female gamers who see this advertisement and come to taste the cake will definitely become potential customers of Argo Weekly because they actually taste a delicious cake. It's a sure-fire way to make money.

It's just that I won't be able to eat this cake in peace and quiet anymore.

Then, looking around, Dante immediately spotted the player they were looking for, sitting alone in a corner.

A few tufts of her raven-feather-like short hair stick up, and her shimmering emerald eyes peek over, her fluttering eyelashes casting butterfly-wing-like shadows on her porcelain-white skin.

Wearing a reddish-brown off-shoulder blouse, she was biting her pale pink lower lip in a conflicted manner, her slender white fingers twisting the hem of her black pleated skirt, and the tips of her ears glowing with a translucent pink in the slanting afternoon sunlight.

"Found it." Dante waved friendly and led Asuna over.

Upon seeing Dante beckoning, the other person seemed to relax, and their tense expression eased considerably.

"Hello, everyone, I'm Xiaochun." She stood up respectfully, like a junior in a club or workplace, and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm Asuna." Asuna took a liking to this girl who was about her age at first sight. She stepped forward to comfort the girl and introduced someone next to her, "This handsome guy over here is Dante."

"It's rare to be praised by Asuna," Dante thought to himself, while giving her a gentle smile.

"So you're President Dante." Xiaochun covered her mouth with her hands in surprise and quickly bowed.

But something seemed to be hidden behind that surprise. Dante blinked and said, "Just call me Dante."

"How can that be?" To everyone's surprise, the other party shook their head repeatedly.

This reserved attitude made Dante and Asuna exchange glances and smile wryly.

"Let's sit down first. Their 'Trembling Strawberry Cake' is delicious. It's rare for the president to treat us." Asuna pulled Koharu to sit down beside her.

"It's not rare, okay." Dante muttered to himself. He would usually treat people to drinks when they went to bars.

"Yes, yes," Asuna replied perfunctorily, then generously ordered from the waiter.

When the stunning cake was actually placed in front of her, Xiaochun's eyes widened. "Wow, it's so big!"

At the same time, all the players in the store focused their attention on them, which made Xiaochun shrink back in surprise.

Of course, the real reason everyone's attention was focused on them was because Asuna ordered three cakes!

Most of the female players in the store came for this cake, but there was only one on each table, so everyone had to share it. The only table where everyone got one cake was theirs.

"Don't worry about it, eat up." Asuna said to Haru with a beautiful smile, then took three forks from the cutlery basket next to her, handing one to Haru and the other to Dante sitting opposite her.

"Th-thank you," Xiaochun said, her expression touched.

Having tasted the refreshing strawberries paired with perfectly light cream and soft, fluffy sponge cake again after so long, Asuna took a deep breath, then sighed deeply and murmured with emotion, "...So delicious..."

"It really is delicious." Xiaochun also let down her guard and smiled happily.

To cleanse her palate, Asuna ordered another pot of fruit tea. The tea had a citrus aroma, and the slight bitterness immediately washed away the sweetness on her tongue. She even felt that she wouldn't mind having another cake.

However, when I finally finished eating, my full stomach protested happily, and unfortunately, I couldn't eat anymore.

As a conclusion, Dante also ordered a pot of tea. This time, the aroma emanating from the exquisite teapot was not citrus but muscat grapes, yet it was still very delicious.

While drinking tea, Dante and Asuna asked Haru if she wanted to join their guild.

"Phew..." Xiaochun put down her tea, seemingly a little hesitant. "To be honest, such a big surprise has left me a little overwhelmed."

"That's an exaggeration," Asuna said with a laugh, waving her hand.

“No. ‘Eternal Garden’ is the most powerful guild in the raiding group.” Xiaochun clenched her fists, her eyes seemingly sparkling.