A journey to another world starting from a sword

"It's ready." He placed the finished product on a plate and then handed it to Leafa, who was sitting at the island counter.

"Thank you," Leafa said sincerely, then took the knife and fork from her.

She looked at the food in front of her. It wasn't particularly complicated, even very simple, but it still smelled delicious, especially the crispy fried fish skin. She really wanted to take a bite and hear the sound.

"Wait a minute, let me cut the bread." Dante took out his reserve rations from his inventory, the national staple food that no player can escape—black bread.

Because of its high durability, this item completely eliminates the worry of other refined foods losing all their durability in half a day.

However, recently, a type of compressed biscuit similar to an energy bar developed by a player has become very popular on the market. Because it contains a certain sweetener, it tastes better than black bread and is also very cost-effective.

Unfortunately, Dante has never eaten it, because everyone in the guild usually eats the bento boxes prepared by Asuna. Even when camping in the dungeon, they can cook something simple on the spot. Only when he is alone will he occasionally buy a few black breads just in case.

According to Argo, those biscuit-like rations were invented by a crafting player from the lower levels. And rightly so, Asuna only thinks about how to make food taste good, while the player who developed these rations was essentially looking to make money.

"It tastes good." The fish was fresh enough that it didn't fall into pieces under the knife and fork, so Leafa easily put it in her mouth.

The aroma of the fish's own oil blends with the wheaty fragrance of the black bread, satisfying both the taste buds and the stomach.

"I apologize for the poor hospitality," Dante said casually. "I'll treat you to some really delicious dessert later."

"Then I'll look forward to it," Leafa replied with a shrug, secretly pleased with Dante's invitation.

After all, this was the first friend she made in the game, literally, someone she had just added as a friend with the other person's guidance.

After a quick meal, Dante went into the bedroom, and Leafa followed. They watched as he placed a cabinet against the window, which had already been drawn, instantly plunging the room into complete darkness, leaving only a sliver of light from the doorway.

Dante walked to the single sofa next to him and lit the candle on the table next to him. A pleasant scent quietly spread in the room.

Leafa felt relaxed after smelling it. "What is this?"

"Scented candles have a calming effect, which works by influencing the brain through olfactory signals." Seeing Leafa nod in understanding, Dante removed his black cloak. "I'll notify my companions. Please wait a little while until then."

Upon hearing this, Leafa quickly shook her head, "That's not true. I'm already very grateful that you can help me."

To be honest, Leafa felt really lucky to have met him. When she thought about that bear, she felt that if she had encountered some monster, she might already be dead.

"..." After a moment, she sat down on the sofa opposite Dante, which he pointed to. The sofa was so comfortable that she almost wanted to ask where it was bought, and she thought she should buy one for her home too.

This is a game world, not reality, and Leafa estimates that this sofa is quite expensive.

She quietly watched the man sitting opposite her. He had already taken off the cloak that had been covering his face and body. With the help of the dim candlelight, Leafa observed him briefly. The candlelight cast a line of light and shadow on the bridge of his nose.

She wore a white shirt and a black vest. Although the design was simple and the style was classic, the fabric had a high-end feel. Not to mention the intricate and gorgeous decorations on it, and the gemstone brooch on her chest, which looked like a masterpiece, was even more eye-catching.

It's a really beautiful outfit. If Leafa didn't know the other person was a player, she probably would have thought he was a nobleman in the game.

Leafa's eyes followed his long, slender fingers, now free of silver gauntlets, as he casually slid across the window.

"Ok?"

"What's wrong?" Leafa asked, sounding somewhat nervous for some reason.

"No, it's nothing. They should have already entered the labyrinth. You can't receive messages inside the labyrinth." After failing to send a message to Asuna, Dante opened the message windows of other people one by one, and all of them showed the same result.

It's only seven o'clock now, isn't Asuna being a little too harsh?

Yesterday evening, when we were having dinner together—which should have been considered "breakfast" for him—they were talking about how they were going to explore the multi-level maze today. Oh, and Liz also had a blacksmith's quest that she might need help with.

"What should we do then?" Leafa asked anxiously.

"It's alright if you wait a little while. There's a bedroom next door where you can rest for a bit. But don't touch your personal belongings. Feel free to use the public ones," Dante said, pointing to the next room.

"Next to?" Leafa turned to look at the wall in that direction. "How long will it take?"

"Maybe around noon," Dante explained, if Asuna and the others weren't planning to stay in the labyrinth at noon... but Argo should be doing something else.

"Alright." Leafa had no choice. Although she hoped to see her brother as soon as possible, she could wait a little longer.

Leafa left the bedroom, closing the door behind her to make the room completely dark, and then headed towards the next room.

Pushing open the door, I saw that this bedroom, like the previous one, had two simple wooden single beds. However, unlike the previous bedroom, this one had many feminine decorations, making it clear that two female players had slept here.

The bluish-green sunlight streamed through the window and shone onto the white sheets. The room was not dusty at all; on the contrary, it felt very fresh.

As for the public items Dante mentioned, they should refer to the teapot and teacups on the table by the window, as well as a delicate little box, which probably contained tea leaves or something similar.

The plush carpet covering the floor looked very soft, and opposite the bed was a three-tiered cabinet with a beautiful brown texture.

"Personal things..." Leafa muttered to herself, leaning against the cabinet and observing the entire room. She didn't see anything personal. The owner of this room seemed to be very clean, keeping the place very tidy.

The two beds were quite far apart, leaving a large open space in between, big enough for a group of people to sit in a circle.

There's probably no need to worry too much.

Right, Leafa suddenly remembered the cabinet behind her. She got off the cabinet, turned around, and pulled open the middle drawer.

"This, this is..."

The colorful underwear was neatly folded together, even Leafa was a little surprised that there were so many.

She only realized that it belonged to two people after noticing the partition in the middle.

The left side has more light colors, mostly white or pink, while the right side is slightly darker, with many purple or green ones, but the styles are mostly cute types decorated with lace.

Leafa slammed the drawer shut, her face slightly flushed. So this was what they called personal belongings.

Chapter 172: Everyone's a Celebrity

Even in her own wardrobe, she doesn't have that many cute items. Instead, she has quite a few childish ones that she bought when she graduated from elementary school, with patterns like teddy bears and kittens.

This overwhelming cuteness made her feel shy, but also a little ashamed of being a girl.

"Hoo—" He took a deep breath to cool down his burning face.

Leafa collapsed onto the bed closest to her, "So comfortable..."

The bed was a simple wooden bed, probably just to match the overall atmosphere of the cabin; the bed itself was even softer than the one in her house.

As you bury your entire body in the mattress, the fatigue hidden deep within your body is slowly seeping into your flesh and spinal cord.

The warm sunshine made her too lazy to even pull open the neatly folded blankets.

In reality, we've gradually entered the rainy season. Recently, the sky in Saitama Prefecture has been consistently overcast, humid, and extremely hot. After each kendo club activity, my body becomes sticky and wet with sweat.

Unexpectedly, the weather in the game was so nice. With this positive impression of SAO, Leafa slowly calmed down and fell asleep.

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

"Why are you here? Where's Argo?" Dante asked the cute girl who knocked on the door of his bedroom.

“Argo is at a crucial moment in her mission. The ‘All Missions Winning Guide’ only has these difficult and obscure missions left, so I was helping Argo gather intelligence today, which is why she asked me to come over. Hehe~” Xiaochun jumped back and sat on the single sofa that Dante had sat on not long ago, revealing a bright smile while gently blinking her right eye.

According to Xiaochun, Argo is probably lost in some labyrinth where he can't receive messages right now.

"Weren't you spotted by other players on the way?" Dante asked seriously.

"No, no," Xiaochun said, taking off her hood. "I was very careful, and no one knows which floor I went to."

She stared at the transfer marker for quite a while, but didn't see any other players transfer over.

In the twenty-second level, where evergreen forests and countless lakes scattered throughout the land occupy most of the land, there are almost no monsters in the training area, and the difficulty of the maze area is also quite low.

I remember that I conquered the entire floor in just three days, leaving almost no impression on other players, so naturally no player would come here specifically.

But it was a completely different story for everyone in the "Eternal Garden," who had been resting on this floor for quite some time.

Xiaochun remembers that they had just finished conquering the 25th floor when their guild leader suddenly pointed to a spot on the 22nd floor map and said, "There's a cabin in the woods here. Do you want to buy it for a vacation?"

After a hard-fought battle, everyone cheered immediately. They had thought they were going to die on the 25th floor and definitely needed to rest. Their initial thought was to go back to the seaside villa on the 7th floor.

However, it is currently quite popular there. With a large number of players moving up, the seventh floor is now filled with a large number of ordinary players, and due to the large number of people, it is no longer a good choice for a vacation.

Contrary to expectations, the twenty-second floor was surprisingly nice, and everyone was thinking about returning there someday.

"That's good." Dante nodded, praising Xiaochun's caution.

As the "rats" began to proliferate, Dante did not want to bring trouble to the peaceful twenty-second floor.

Of course, this "rat" is not the same as that "rat". Although Argo has the nickname "rat", it is mostly because of his iconic beard.

He was referring to those who developed malicious intentions after most players became accustomed to controlling virtual bodies in combat; these were criminal players, the most notorious of whom was probably the criminal player guild "Smiling Coffin."

If those people find out about the existence of the twenty-second floor, then we can only come back here to play after we've wiped them out.

As for the specific timing of the extermination, Dante plans to wait until his strength is high enough to easily deal with ten players, including PoH, before taking action. After all, the level gap between him and the mid-level players is only barely widening now, not to mention that criminal players are more proficient in PVP than other players.

"Ah, was I not thorough enough in the message?" Dante grumbled slightly as he rose from his meditative position. "They didn't even come in person. It seems my authority as the guild master has declined."

“Hahaha…” Hearing the joke, Xiaochun laughed and got up to walk to the living room. “Maybe you didn’t say it was that urgent in the message. When Argo heard that it was about helping a female player find her brother, he figured it was okay to postpone it a little.”

The "Complete Guide to Successful Missions" can help a large number of players, making the task of finding someone seem less important in comparison.

"Didn't Argo say anything about the name Kiritani Kazuto?" Dante asked Koharu.

"No, Argo only said she would investigate. Anyway, let me take that female player to the Black Iron Palace first."

"Ah—" Dante exclaimed knowingly, then knocked on the door.

This is a clumsy method. Since Leafa doesn't know her brother's game name, this is the only way she can see if she remembers the name of a player who is still alive.

"What's wrong?" Leafa, still half asleep, opened the door. When she saw the familiar face, her eyes widened in surprise, as if she suddenly remembered why she was there.

"Good afternoon, how did you sleep?" Dante asked with a smile.

"It's...it's alright." More than just alright, she'd actually slept for hours!

"An elf?" At this moment, Xiaochun's eyes widened just like Leafa's, because she saw the other's ears, and what a cute girl, and kind of cool too.

"This is Leafa. A game called ALO was recently released in the real world, and Leafa may have crossed over from ALO," Dante explained briefly.

"Huh, is this even possible?" Shocked, Xiaochun didn't even know what her expression was like.

“Who knows?” Dante shrugged simply, then introduced Lifa, “This is Xiaochun, a member of our guild.”

"Hello." Leafa nodded to Xiaochun. "Just call me Leafa."

I was just taught the unspoken rules of the game by Dante, such as trying not to use honorifics.

"Leaf, you can just call me Haru." Haru greeted me very kindly. "I already know the relevant information. Basically, we need to find Leafa's real-life brother in SAO, right?"

“Yes, yes.” Leafa nodded three times.

"Then I'll take you to the Black Iron Palace on the first floor first, where the names of all the SAO players are listed."

Upon hearing Xiaochun's words, Leafa first glanced at Dante.

"Go ahead, if you can find it, great; if not, I'll figure something out." Dante shrugged nonchalantly.

"I understand, thank you." Leafa bowed and then looked at Haru. "Shall we set off now?"

"No problem," Xiaochun said with a smile.

Just before leaving, Dante Chao Lifa called out, "You can go look for it after lunch."

"Oh right, right." It was Xiaochun who turned around first. She took a leather bag out of her inventory and tossed it to Dante. "I almost forgot, this is your lunch."

Looking at the meat pie made from the flesh of the unknown monster, Dante said nothing, only waved his hand.

As they wandered along the forest path, Xiaochun once again put on her dark red hood.

"Hey, is this style popular in SAO?" Leafa was a little curious. She thought this traveler's style was just Dante's way of dressing.

“Hmm…” Xiaochun pondered for a moment, thinking about how to explain, “Actually, the lining of this cloak is made of very rare Shadow Leopard leather, which has a certain stealth attribute bonus. Our guild wants to minimize the attention it receives.”

"Huh? Why?" Leafa was even more confused now.

"There are many reasons. One of them is that there are many celebrities in our guild, especially in the middle ranks. If you're not careful, you might get recognized and surrounded." Xiaochun smiled slightly at Leafa.

"That's an exaggeration," Leafa stuck out her tongue. "Is Dante like that too?"

This first mysterious male player she encountered left a very deep impression on her.

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Xiaochun looked troubled. "In terms of fame alone, the president is probably about the same as the vice president."

"President? You mean Dante is the president?" Leafa almost thought she had misheard.

“That’s right! Dante is indeed the guild leader of our guild.” After adding a friend, Xiaochun pointed to her upper left corner, “Look closely, there’s a small violet icon next to the HP bar, that’s proof that you’ve joined a guild.”

“Yes.” Leafa saw it clearly.

"Our guild leader, 'Eternal Garden,' is Dante, and the vice-leader is Asuna. However, Asuna is probably more popular than our guild's Lingyin right now."

"I see." Leafa only partially understood, but she noted down the information for now. However, she also realized that Dante was indeed a very skilled player in SAO, which explained why he could easily come up with 100 million yen.

On the way, Leafa and Haru chatted. Leafa learned a lot about SAO, such as the current floor level being the 29th floor, and guild-related matters, such as the guild being full of cute girls.