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

"Have you found the boss room on the 61st floor?"

Asuna looked at the middle-aged man named Godfree in surprise.

With the stewed rat, the progress of the strategy was much faster, but in fact, the strategy team has always maintained a high efficiency of completing one floor a week. Everyone knows that every delay is bad news for the outside world, so Asuna was so annoyed when the road was blocked by a wild area BOSS on the Geocrawler.

But if we follow the characteristics of the 61st floor, water-avoiding and speed-moving foods should be more suitable, right?

"Although that's true, it's not about this. Didn't the deputy leader meet with the leader today?"

Godfrey glanced at Asuna in confusion. "But we'll tell you at the meeting later. An intelligence agent has finally discovered the hiding place of the Laughing Coffin."

"Laughing Coffin?"

Asuna also turned serious.

"Well, the leader is preparing to call on the raiders to attack the Laughing Coffin. These guys aren't AI. In some ways, they're even more dangerous than the bosses. We must be fully prepared."

Most people in the strategy group have good values. Even before the crusade begins, they can imagine that someone will be counterattacked by the enemy because they are unwilling to kill. At this time, the second life is crucial.

"How did you find out?"

"It's in a dungeon area on the lower levels. They say the strategy guide might have triggered some special mechanics in the game. A treasure chest they'd already opened suddenly transformed into a chest monster with what appears to be an instant-kill mechanic. It happened to be right outside their hideout. It took five or six Laughing Coffins a day to discover it, and it even caught the attention of the information dealer."

Godfrey laughed out loud. "I don't know if this is just a case of evil being punished or if Kayaba Akihiko did this on purpose."

"..."

Asuna stared at the busy Yimi and fell into deep thought.

That means they were actually only a few steps away from the Laughing Coffin's lair that day, and Yimi even placed a real treasure chest monster there?

It was too dangerous. If they had happened to run into the three of them... Ugh! They would have definitely been attacked.

"Of course, considering the deputy captain's feelings, the captain said you can not participate in this subjugation operation. It just so happens that the boss room on the 61st floor has been discovered. Staying here to formulate a plan will better utilize your expertise."

Asuna used to really hate PvP, where players fight against each other, and that time when she fought Kirito, it was Kirito's idea that really annoyed her.

"Have you found the boss room on the 61st floor?"

Godfrey nodded. "After all, that mask is incredibly useful. But I also think we're being a little hasty. If we don't give everyone time to level up, we'll definitely suffer at some point in the future."

After learning clothing making for such a long time, in addition to how to design the most important outerwear and skirts, Asuna certainly did not forget to teach Yimi how to make some simple clothes.

For example, no one would think that underwear takes up the original equipment slot in the equipment column. Another example is masks, which are usually ignored by everyone, but are the only equipment items that are useful to their strategy so far.

Mask made by @@: [Sense of Smell] Expands your field of vision to treasure chests and monsters, and can observe the above two types of items through a layer of wall in advance, and can predict traps one second in advance.

This thing (river crab) greatly reduces the danger of everyone exploring the maze. By selling cat food and equipment at the same time, Yimi has more assets than Kirito and Asuna combined at a young age.

If you ignore the theme of insect-shaped monsters, the view of the main city on the 61st floor is very nice, with ancient city-style blocks built of white granite and a wide variety of market shops.

Except for the central island of the main city, this floor is almost entirely lake water, which is very suitable for fishing. Yimi should like it, right?

Asuna has already considered settling down there.

Because there is no durability limit and the working hours are irregular, cat food has been stocked by most members of the strategy team, so that food other than stewed rat has not been sold for a long time.

As for the stewed rat... others didn't know that Asuna could actually make it using the reward pot, although her almost maxed-out cooking skills couldn't change the vicious taste.

"The rat is ready."

Yimi knocked on the lid of the pot with a soup spoon, and the air was filled with a smell that made the strategy team feel sick.

"Thank you for your hard work. This is the extra reward that hard-working children deserve."

Godfrey placed the promised pastries on the table and left with the stewed rat.

"I have something to do. I won't be playing with you today. Be good in the guild and don't go out alone."

Asuna pinched Yimi's little face, turned around and walked out. Of course she had to participate in this crusade.

"Deputy Captain, are you going out?"

At some point, Kladil, who was guarding the door, stepped out to intercept.

"Is there a problem?"

Asuna certainly had a deep impression of the person who had made Yimi angry, but she didn't dislike him directly for that. After all, from the player's perspective, he had in a sense tested the child's bottom line.

"The leader said that the deputy leader is very important to the strategy team and must be accompanied by bodyguards when going out."

Kradir patted his sword, as if to say that he was the bodyguard.

"what?"

Asuna obviously didn't believe it, because this person was at least ten levels lower than her.

In fact, it was Kladir who had been pestering Heathcliff for a long time, and finally got annoyed with him and said "I'll think about it" and drove him out. Then Kladir arbitrarily acknowledged his identity as a bodyguard.

"Go back and tell the captain that I don't need any bodyguards, and I don't think this is an order from the captain."

Asuna walked past him and headed straight ahead.

The team leader is not stupid. Even if the reason is appropriate, how could he let the person in the entire team who has the worst relationship with Yimi follow her?

……

"Well."

Yimi, who was free again, sat at the table and used the tools bought by Asuna to cut. She was already using the sewing machine at such a young age. Fortunately, the shape of the machine was not so bad that her calves could not reach the pedals.

Some games are making corrections so that making clothes is no longer an overly delicate job. Even if this also leads to the lack of detailed steps, working in the game itself is the beginning of boredom.

After an unknown amount of time, a noise that did not belong to a sewing machine rang in Yimi's ears. It was neither in front of him nor too far away. It was a sound that a human could make. It sounded like a little girl's whisper, but the specific meaning could not be made out.

25

Chapter 25: Playing dirty.

"Use the food for half a minute, then walk around the closed treasure chest."

Regarding the 'empty treasure chest that turned into a treasure chest monster', Heathcliff even deliberately checked it with administrator privileges and confirmed that except for the problem on the 100th floor that even Cardinal could not fix, there should be no vulnerability code in the lower levels.

But now, from his administrator's perspective, he saw that a treasure chest monster of over level 90 had appeared in this small lower floor.

This thing suddenly appeared at the door. Regardless of whether it was a programming problem or some other reason, the Smiling Coffin must have been alarmed.

However, criminal players are restricted in various aspects, both at the upper and lower levels. Their "guild" is even in name only. Orange-label players are not qualified to establish a guild, so the transfer speed will naturally not be that fast.

After learning of their movements, the strategy team sent an advance team specifically responsible for exploring the maze, wearing cat masks and keeping an eye on them.

Heathcliff looked in that direction, feeling regretful or something else.

Contrary to what most players imagine, when designing SAO, he did not completely forgo growth paths for killing players. There are actually ten special sword skills like dual-wielding and sacred sword. After reaching the 75th floor, the player with the most kills will automatically unlock the "Dark Sword", but now we probably can't see the glory of this move.

With a heavy heart, Asuna took the initiative to hold Kirito's hand.

"Are you scared?"

Kirito was a little surprised by the sudden initiative. In this situation, with everyone watching...

"No, I can't empathize with these people, but I'm not sure if I will really be soft-hearted. I'm just a little scared."

The hidden location he deliberately chose was of course also a good hiding place for the criminal guild. If they had gone deeper, could they have survived the siege by dozens of people?

Kirito glanced behind him and saw the other members of the raiders, led by Klein, pointing at him in shock with trembling hands. The Blood Knights, who were already used to it, even moved away unkindly to let others see them holding hands.

He turned his head back helplessly.

This can be considered as reducing everyone's psychological pressure from another perspective. Now that you are here, you must be prepared to be stained with blood.

Standing not far behind them, Kradir stared at Kirito's back with anger gritting his teeth.

Originally, he would not have participated in this operation.

"Here, drink it. This is your second life."

Godfrey handed him a bowl of rat soup and smiled brightly. "You probably haven't tasted this yet, have you? Go apologize to that kid when you get a chance. Thanks to her, we were able to avoid so many sacrifices."

Godfrey is mainly responsible for the training program in the Blood Alliance Knights, and he is also the one who usually mediates any conflicts between members.

Kladir glanced at the thing in his hand with disgust. "You can make such a disgusting thing. Is this the reason for you to establish a good relationship with that little beast? You really have thrown away your dignity just to survive. I don't think I will die here."

As he said this, he was still staring at Kirito's back, sneering in his heart.

"Set off."

There was a large open space in the safe area of ​​the cave dungeon. After so many people squeezed in, it looked like an arena. However, after they were mentally prepared to enter the room, they did not see the expected large orange mark.

"Tsk, did you escape?"

Klein smacked his lips, feeling that this result was unworthy of the rat soup he had drunk despite enduring the double blow to his taste buds and spirit. He even wanted to curse Kayaba Akihiko again.

"No, not at all, quite the opposite..."

Kirito drew his sword and retreated: "We are surrounded."

The news leaked from somewhere, but the members of the Smiling Coffin, who had been prepared for the attack, suddenly jumped out. Sharp laughter echoed in the huge space, and special weapons that were obviously coated with poison stabbed directly at them.

Some were caught off guard and had their health reduced to a third. However, those who had participated in the strategy group and survived to this day were no fools. Everyone quickly adjusted their formation and joined the battle. The orange and green symbols on their heads were very obvious, so there was no need to worry about hitting the wrong person in the chaos.

As a result, all the combat plans they had prepared in advance were disrupted.

"Switch! Switch!"

The Laughing Coffin leader sat perched high above, watching the chaos below with satisfaction, trying his best not to laugh out loud. To him, the existence of this organization wasn't crucial. Even if their base remained undiscovered, he would reveal the information to the intelligence dealers soon.

It would be more interesting for him to let these high-sounding strategy teams bear the sin of killing people.

This is no joke, this is a real war.

"These guys have two lives!"

"Haha? Is the rumored rat soup real?"

Less than five minutes later, four members of the stronger strategy team lost their first life due to indecision, but after learning the first lesson, they finally stopped hesitating.

In fact, the victory of this crusade was doomed from the beginning. The key is how much they are willing to sacrifice before they are determined to kill. In this game, except for the paralysis effect, it is difficult to beat the opponent to lose the ability to move. Basically, you can only beat the opponent to low health to make him afraid and surrender.

But in the chaos of battle, you may not be able to find a way to restrain the enemy for a while. Even if the low-health enemies surrender, you may suddenly launch a sneak attack when they are distracted and paying attention to other places.

When Kirito was concentrating on the black-clad man with the poisonous knife in front of him and had no time to pay attention to the side, Kladir, who was paying attention to him, suddenly turned sideways and exchanged glances with the smiling coffin personnel whose weapons collided with his, causing them to directly avoid him and attack Kirito.

At the same time, he exposed his weakness, allowing another member of Laughing Coffin to grab him and hold him hostage by the throat.

Although it is only a title, he, Kraldir, can indeed be regarded as a member of the Smiling Coffin.

-

"Meow? Who are you?"

The voice did not become clearer because of her question, but became more vague.

Yimi put down her long skirt with a black base, pricked up her ears and looked around for something.

The Blood Alliance Knights' headquarters is usually deserted. When Yimi goes out, she is usually protected by Asuna. When Asuna is not around, there will be an uncle who often teases her and takes care of her at any time.

But cats don't follow the beaten path.

Running out of the window, Yimi tried to walk in the direction of the sound, but no matter how far she walked, the murmurs did not become clearer. Instead, she could hear nothing.

Yimi ran to the street in confusion. The high-rise areas were relatively deserted when fighting the defensive boss, and it was the same during the subjugation war.

Why did she always hear strange noises? This world was strange, and so were the people and the gaps.

Gap?

Yimi thought that the previous gaps could only be entered but not exited, and after entering, one would arrive at another place.

If someone saw her from there and spoke to her through the crack, she would certainly not be able to hear.

Walking down the street and looking around, she ran towards the prop store, took out the three-dimensional number string from the storage space, slapped it on the table, and looked up at the NPC uncle in front of her.

"Give me two, transfer crystals."

"Okay, thank you for your patronage."

The crystal was transferred to Yimi's hands, and some of her three-dimensional numbers were automatically deducted.

Yimi used it and came to the location of Hongyu Palace again. But this time the little girl's voice disappeared directly, but she also saw the source of the voice clearly.

Previously, a huge crack appeared in the module that had not been loaded above the head, and it was visible even without deliberately shifting the perspective.

In the pitch-black space that seemed to have no up, down, left, or right, a little black-haired girl in a white dress was curled up in a coma.

Yimi took out her spear and pointed it at the ground to jump, then summoned Famine to carry her out. At the same time, the crack turned into an unloaded module again.