I, the little cat, am a substitute for others who are starving and thin

"Why not do this?"

Maomao will remember these people, and when he finds an opportunity, he will kill them one by one!

"Ah... this is not good after all, right?"

Kirito pondered.

Why? In fact, even if he was just outside the circle, even if he was fighting back and making the final blow to protect himself, he would still have hesitated a little, at least that's what he thought.

After spending a day together, he still found it difficult to fully integrate the child into the NPC role. Although he had already done two examples, it would be better to let such a young child do it himself rather than let him carry the sin of killing that he would hesitate to do.

"Are you lying?"

Yimi suddenly patted his head.

"Eh?"

"Didn't you say you'd take me to eat something delicious? You asked me to look at names and change clothes. I already want to go to sleep."

Yimi rubbed her eyes sleepily.

The taskbar popped up again, something called "Feeding@@", but there was still no reward.

"I'm sorry for the slight delay."

Kirito glanced at the sky.

The seasons and time that are synchronized with the outside world are almost no longer bright.

"But if you don't have a change of clothes..."

Kirito came up with a good idea. He clicked on the equipment bar, took off the black suit he had been wearing for more than a year and put it on Yimi.

Most of the items in SAO are interactive. The clothes on him are as long as his calves, so when they are draped on Yimi, they will naturally drag on the ground.

Hei He has a hood, so you can't see his face after he puts it on. It's a bit weird that there is still no cursor on his head, but it's okay as long as it doesn't attract attention.

But Yimi already has a hat on his head...

Kirito helped her take it off.

"what are you doing?"

Yimi grabbed the hat in dissatisfaction and refused to give it to him.

"Let me keep it for you first... your ears?"

Kirito stared at the cat ears on Yimi's head in a daze.

Features that did not exist in reality seemed to remind him that the child was indeed an NPC, but it also dispelled his doubts that she was Kayaba Akihiko's daughter.

Kirito looked down at the hat in his hand.

Equipment: Black and white mouse hat.

addition:/

Effect: [Pickpocket] You can randomly steal items from the target. Whether you are discovered depends on your stealth value and the target's detection value (cooling time 24h/per person)

"..."

-

50th floor, prop shop.

"What kind of image is this?"

Agil, the player who looks most like an NPC.

It's not that his behavior is the same as that of a computer, it's just that among a group of thin and handsome gamers, he is the only one who looks like a bald, dark-skinned and strong man. You have to know that because of Kayaba Akihiko's mischief, everyone's appearance is real.

Well, at least that was the reality a year ago. No one knows how thin they became after not eating properly for a year.

Despite his scary appearance, this guy, who was much older than Kirito, was one of the few friends he could talk to. He even came to stay with him occasionally after he opened a prop shop.

"Not suitable?"

Kirito tried his best not to wake up Yimi who was sleeping on his back, and posed while pointing at the shrine maiden hat on his head.

This equipment has its own skill effects, but the columns it occupies directly include the hat and coat. Even so, Kirito still thinks it is an over-the-top equipment.

Agil was stunned. "It suits your face quite well. Which floor did you get this item from?"

Because Kirito looks more feminine, he was even mistaken for a sister when he walked with his sister in casual clothes.

He adjusted his hat nervously. "It's just temporary. Stand there and let me try... If I can steal the main weapon directly, maybe I can subdue him without killing him..."

Kirito reached out to Agil and started pickpocketing.

A pair of boxer briefs appeared in his hand.

"?"

Agil's expression changed drastically: "I have a wife in real life!"

"I don't want to steal the old man's pants! Hurry up and put your equipment back, don't let anyone see it."

Kirito quickly threw it back to him.

Why can even something like this be stolen?

"Well……"

Yimi smacked her lips and adjusted her position on Kirito's back.

"I was just about to ask, what is this?"

Agil pointed at Yimi who had buried his head and gone back to sleep.

Kirito lowered the brim of her hat and pondered for a moment. "Sorry, I'll tell you later. I just saw that there are quite a few players at the place I rented. Business here is not very good. Can I stay here for one night?"

"It's not that bad, is it? But I did say before that you're always welcome to interrupt me."

"Thank you."

Kirito walked upstairs.

He himself had no idea what he was thinking.

After the Smiling Coffin showed up and annoyed him, he came back carrying Yimi on his back.

It seems like it's time to find a quiet place.

"Oh, by the way, the strategy team had a meeting today, and Miss Strategy Ghost was very angry about your absence."

Agil warned him from behind.

Kirito frowned. "It wasn't long after we defeated the last boss, is it so tight?"

So much was happening that he really hadn't checked the news.

Agil stroked his bald head. "She's very insecure, isn't she? She's been like this ever since the game crashed."

"So, did you come to any conclusions from your discussion?"

"Lure the boss outside the circle into the circle, and kill it while the boss is slaughtering NPCs."

"..."

9

Chapter 9 Transfer.

The 56th floor is praised by players as having no special features compared to the floors with eternal winter or elf themes.

In fact, just after passing the 55th floor guarding BOSS, Kirito saw the silver flag... which was the guild that was harmed by Rosaria, and the only surviving president was asking others for revenge.

Even though his heart was filled with hatred, he just wanted to send the people of Titan's Hand to prison. To this end, the president used all his assets to buy the Corridor Crystal, which can set the coordinates independently. This thing is a precious item that only some big bosses will drop.

"Is it really not possible?"

"How can such a battle be successful?"

"But isn't the monster AI often more agile than the NPCs? In the first three levels, wasn't there a time when bee monsters attacked the jungle boss, driving it mad..."

"Big brother, come here and hide!"

A pretty NPC girl waved at the main gate of the village.

Kirito quickly ran in and watched as the village gate intercepted the boss.

He patted the little girl's head: "Thank you."

*NPC harassment warning popped up.

Kirito withdrew his hand in disappointment. He had completely forgotten about this. It was clearly just a simple pat on the head.

……

"That's enough!"

The woman with long chestnut hair, orange eyes, and wearing the uniform of the vice-leader of the Blood Alliance Knights slammed her fist on the meeting table. Everyone could see her anger from her face that was beautiful enough to debut as an idol without makeup.

The large wild area BOSS [Geo Tracks] blocking the road is a snake-like insect-like creature covered with almost indestructible armor. The players' currently known attack methods are completely unable to cause any damage to it.

The soft weakness visible to the naked eye is in the abdomen. However, the place where it is entrenched leads to a canyon-like passage all the way to the village gate. With its body size, once it drills into the passage, there will be no space for others to move in.

"No, it's only been two days. There's no need to be so angry anyway."

Obviously, it was not wise for Kirito to speak at this time, because a considerable part of Asuna's anger was directed at him, the guy who skipped the combat meeting as soon as he arrived at the new floor, and as a result, after he came today, another person who had a good relationship with him did not come.

Asuna glanced at him. "'Using delicious meat to lure the boss into a vulnerable position'—that strategy should have been impossible from the moment it was proposed."

"Don't say that. It hurts me to have my A-grade ingredients go to waste. Because of Kirito, I thought it was a sure thing to succeed."

The down-and-out warrior next to him weakly raised his hand.

"You actually let me be the boss without saying anything..."

This down-and-out samurai was called Klein, and he was the first person Kirito met in this game. At his request, Kirito had spent the entire day teaching him as a beta tester, but they parted ways after Kayaba Akihiko announced his plans.

Originally, Kirito had invited him to go with him, but Klein came to SAO with friends he had met in other games, so naturally, he couldn't abandon them.

In this situation, Kirito has to face more realistic considerations. He can't bring more people... even if it's a second newbie, regardless of whether the other party will become a burden, if anyone dies under his leadership, he will have to bear the responsibility.

Klein, a kindhearted man, saw his concerns and took the initiative to separate. Since then, every time they met, no matter how warmly and friendly Klein greeted him, Kirito felt like he couldn't look him in the eye. And that was even before Klein had actually managed to keep his clueless friends alive until now, even joining the Clearers.

"And, as expected, it failed. So, is it okay to leave this attack entirely to the Blood Knights? Just do as I said yesterday. Don't close the gate when it's about to charge into the village. Wait until the boss is slaughtering the NPCs and attack from behind."

Kirito immediately retorted, "Wait a minute, that's too much. NPCs are different from objects like stones and trees. They..."

"Are you trying to say they have life? Yesterday, when you weren't fighting, the little girl did the exact same thing: opening the door and shouting when the boss was about to rush in. Anyway, they're just like monsters; no matter how many times you kill them, they'll reset after 24 hours."

"This kind of thing..."

No, if it was the day before yesterday, Kirito would have been speechless. But he brought the child back because he was worried that he would be punished if he left the child outside.

But even if he said he couldn't agree, he had no reason to explain why. Instead, it would only cause everyone to ridicule him, so the only choice he had was to remain silent.

Klein, the usually carefree guy, seemed to have once again seen through his worries. He raised his hand rudely and asked a question that was somewhat offensive to the player: "Wait a minute, can I ask your level first, Mr. Vice Captain of KOB?"

……

……

As a result, Klein, who was on his side, deliberately asked Asuna about her level, hoping that Kirito, who was four levels higher than Asuna, would speak more convincingly, but he backfired and caused Asuna to be dissatisfied and start a fight.

Naturally, Kirito won, and it wasn't a very pleasant situation.

Return to Agil's Item Shop.

"Come down quickly, don't touch that, I'll catch you! I'll let you touch my bald head."

Agil was seen looking up in panic, with his arms outstretched to adjust his position, while the little girl brought back by Kirito yesterday had somehow climbed onto the shelf where the goods had not yet been put on display, holding a bottle of not-so-expensive blood medicine in her hand and sniffing it.

When Yimi saw this board fixed on the wall, he wanted to climb up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't let you participate in today's battle."

Kirito apologized to Agil first.

Someone had to keep an eye on the kid, and as a lone player, there weren't many people he could trust.

At his request, Yimi has now changed her well-known black and white witch costume into a Japanese shrine maiden costume, with her small cat ears generously exposed.

Although one can tell at a glance that she is an NPC and there is no NPC cursor above her head, at least one should not think in the direction of the rumor at the first moment, provided that she does not issue tasks randomly.