Welcome to Wanjie Tavern

"Huh? Tong Zai, are you listening to me? That task doesn't look like a simple side task, and it might take a long time to complete."

In the beginning, everyone took over the missions in the form of unions. In many cases, solo players who encountered large-scale missions generally chose to avoid such missions.

Although the reward of the mission may be a rather rare item, due to the number of people, it is very difficult for such a large-scale mission to be completed by solo players ahead of the crowd.

Even the large-scale camp event that Kirito accepted for the first time was suitable for Asuna to complete together.

So Argo wanted to talk to Kirito to stop him from doing something out of the ordinary.

"Don't worry, there's no problem. Didn't you try it once and come back after losing a level?"

"what happened?"

"Tongzi, has anyone told you that you have changed a lot since you got on better with Xiaoya?"

With a smile on his face that I understand everything, you don't need to explain, Argo said in a thief-like manner.

"No...it shouldn't be so exaggerated..."

Even though this is indeed the case, Kirito would still feel his cheeks getting hot when he was pointed out in person.

"Alright, alright, now that I've made up my mind, I won't persuade you anymore, but you must pay attention, this is not a task that must be completed, everyone's primary goal is to clear this game, if the level is out of touch , it’s pretty bad.”

Faced with Argo's advice, after thinking for a long time, Kirito finally made up his mind.

"It is said that risks coexist with opportunities. Since the difficulty is so high, it will be very rare compared to the final reward, right? Argo, how much is the intelligence fee this time?"

Seeing that Kirito has made up his mind, Argo doesn't say anything anymore. The relationship between the two is just ordinary friends. There may be other sayings, but in this world where death may occur at any time, who cares?

After bidding farewell to the information dealer, he teleported back to the latest layer of Aincrad. Kirito contacted Asuna, who had just finished exploring an area with his companions from the Knights of the Blood, and got a vacation.

After meeting, Kirito quickly discussed with Asuna about the NPC that appeared in the BOSS room before, and then learned from Asuna that the mysterious knight was also circulating among various guilds. After receiving the information from the NPC, Kirito and Asuna decided that after today's rest, the two will meet in the square tomorrow, and then go together to the place where the mysterious NPC's location information was obtained.

But before that, Kirito still has another job, which is to accompany Asuna to take a good stroll in the central town of this new floor.

Chapter 72-Welcome to Chuanhuo Sacrificial Site!

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Obviously, it has been a long time since he put on this armor, which represents that he has forgotten his identity, but after the familiar weight reappeared on his body, Mu Mu could still feel the sound coming from this ordinary armor. temperature of the fire.

The edges of the armor and the fabric protruding from the gaps still shone with embers, and the faint red light made Mu Mu in the shadows like the ashes left after being swallowed by flames.

It has been a few days since I came to Aincrad. In these days, except for the first time, because I saw the monster with the sheep head and the body subconsciously used a miracle called the thunder gun to kill the opponent. , The contact with the players in Sword Art Online, as well as the protagonist group, was limited to a brief communication between an information dealer dressed like a mouse.

Playing a qualified NPC is not difficult for Mu Mu, after all, it is not difficult to learn to imitate the standard translation accent and then say a lot of useless nonsense.

Just like the players who frantically click and skip in the game, the most important thing is often the last few sentences in the conversation with the NPC.

But it's really boring without anyone to accompany him. Originally, Mu Mu thought about whether he could bring Mash or Miss Roman Emperor to accompany him, but Mu Mu who was directly thrown into the world of Sword Art Online had no other choice at all.

"Well, it seems that some people can't stand it anymore. Yes, it's really too much to always bring other people's words. Well, even the power is only allowed to use the black soul world. It's really weakened~"

After letting out an extremely boring wail, Mu Mu, who had been cross-legged on the ground for a long time, fell back and leaned against the steps made of white bricks on the edge of the fire-passing sacrificial ground behind him.

A burning spiral sword was inserted into the burning bonfire in front of him. It was this spiral sword that gave the players who challenged the task of Mumu the characteristic of not being brain-dead.

But there is still a price for every death in the mission, just like the information dealer who came to experience the happy circle with Teacher Guda, Mu Mu clearly remembered that this player went in with a confident face, and then less than 3 Minjiu came out with a dark face.

Then her level dropped by one level.

Looking at the expression on the other party's face, Mu Mu couldn't help recalling the days when he paid tuition fees at Teacher Guda's place. Before entering the square, he knew how to walk along the winding road with his eyes closed, even on the hillside. Passing by those mobs standing aside, Mu Mu sent them off while still on his way.

The novice tutorial for this mission has even omitted the section of the mountain road in front of the square, otherwise, Mu Mu even wondered if the players here might not even be able to get past the front.

But probably not, according to Mu Mu's research, the NPC I played in this mission should be similar to the one that can exist multiple times at the same time, but my body is responsible for the protagonists who came to the door .

For example, Grandpa Kirito Tong, who was supposed to be famous for using the double sword style, is now just a solo player with the name of cheater because of his sudden intrusion.

【=

But Mu Mu's plan was destined to be impossible to implement, because when Mu Mu was resting on the steps, there was a sound of footsteps outside the closed tall wooden door.

I'm not comfortable walking alone, judging by the interval between the sound of shoes stepping on the floor, two people?

"Squeak--"

The heavy door was pushed open, and the originally dim candlelight was turned on again. Mu Mu also changed his casual posture before, straightened his back, and pretended to be an NPC waiting for the player to trigger the dialogue scene.

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Kirito didn't understand why Asuna was able to wander around the central town for so long yesterday afternoon, even though she still had to clear this hidden mission today.

There is only a thin layer of window paper left in the heart between the two of them. To determine the relationship, it only needs either party to take the crucial step first.

But now is not the time to talk about these things. After groping all the way into this hidden cave according to the map data that Argo gave him, Kirito felt that the scene around him seemed to have changed his painting style.

The painting style that was originally considered a fantasy world directly turned into a scene that seemed to be the end of the world. The road under the feet became dilapidated, and the reappearing sky turned yellow.

The trees did not produce green leaves, and even the weeds that came out of the cracks in the bricks were in a dry state.

Walking along the dilapidated road, Kirito and Asuna saw a huge wooden door erected in front of them, like a building like a church. Although the paint and murals on the outside have peeled off, this magnificent building can still be imagined if it is preserved. If it is intact, what a grand sight this majestic building will be.

Although there were no mobs blocking the way along the way, facing this building, Asuna still inadvertently stuffed her palm into Kirito's.

Although the two are fighting on the front line of the strategy, facing the sudden change of the painting style in front of them, this kind of dim painting style as if the world has been destroyed is still difficult for people to adapt to.

"This should be where the NPC is, Asuna, are you ready?"

"Kirito, is it really okay not to use the transfer crystal?"

Asuna was a little worried. After all, if there were any emergencies, she could use the transfer crystal to escape directly. Although this thing always encountered the crystal invalidation room when it was most needed, if she held it in her hand, it would at least be psychologically safe. Feel safer.

"Boom--"

There was a low roar when the heavy wooden door was pushed open, and the moment Kirito and Asuna stepped into the dim circular church, music rang in their ears.

The chants that seemed to tell a heavy history surrounded them, and the candles were lit one after another, allowing Kirito and Asuna to see the scene in front of them clearly.

On the gravel-paved ground, a pitch-black long sword was stuck in the center of a circular bonfire, and a dancing flame was burning on the twisted body of the sword.

The sound of armor colliding sounded from the side, and Kirito looked up, and the knight who had appeared in the BOSS room before was opening his arms and saying loudly.

"Welcome to Chuanhuo Sacrifice, brave guests!"

Chapter 73-Mr. Guda, another student is here to pay the tuition

Mu Mu stood up, looking at the two players standing in front of him, one black and one white, one male and one female, he thought to himself: This is probably Kirito and Ben Zina, right?

As a frequent visitor to online articles, this is the first time for Mu Mu to see a real person. Well, there is no difference between the image in the imagination, or the image in the anime. The top players in SAO don't match the style of the fire ceremony venue where Mu Mu is.

Probably in the doomsday wasteland style world, two adventurers from the fantasy world suddenly broke into it.

"Ahem, hello?"

Except for the surprise of Mu Mu who stood up suddenly when he just walked into this sacrificial field, Kirito reacted quickly. He walked to the side of the knight NPC first, and asked tentatively, So I thought about starting the next plot, dialogue, and the like.

"Hello, guests from another world, I'm glad you managed to find this place."

Putting down his arms, Mu Mu, who was thinking about shouting praises to the sun, spoke in an imitated tone of classic old movie translation.

"I have prepared many rewards for you. Of course, these rewards can only be obtained by your own efforts."

Hearing this, Kirito nodded thoughtfully.

"Of course, the failure of the challenge is not without punishment. The level that is very important to everyone is a good bargaining chip to offset the failure. How about it? Brave guests, are you ready to get exquisite rewards?"

He intentionally elongated his voice. Mu Mu, who was originally pretending to be a novice village guide, combined with his own knight suit. To be honest, in the eyes of normal people, it looks a bit inconsistent.

But this can't be blamed on Mu Mu, after all, it's the first time to play an NPC or something, and Mu Mu's impression of those characters who can communicate in the world of black souls is only a few words back and forth.

It would be great if the fire prevention girl was here, she could handle these things by herself.

"I'm ready, but if it's a challenge, can two people do it together?"

"Of course there is no problem. It is not impossible for the challenger to form a team of seven, but it has been agreed in advance that the more people there are, the worse the reward will be in the end. Do you understand?"

Facing Mu Mu's explanation, after thinking for a while, Kirito pulled Asuna who was standing aside, leaned into her ear, and whispered.

"Asuna, the former NPCs, did you take the initiative to mention such things as levels?"

"Take the initiative to raise the level...it doesn't seem to have happened before."

"Really? This is a little troublesome."

Kirito glanced at the NPC who was standing there as if waiting for his response. This guy always gave Kirito a feeling that something was wrong, as if it was not a piece of data running according to the program, but a living human being. Player, the character being controlled.

But the logo on the opponent's head is indeed the logo representing the NPC in the game, including when entering the fire-passing sacrificial field, a question mark popped up on the head of the knight sitting there, representing that the mission can be triggered...

"Well, I want to ask, what if one of us runs out of HP in the middle of this challenge, but the other one still defeats the boss at the end?"

Kirito intends to confirm with Mu Mu in detail. After all, it is better to be more cautious in Aincrad where the higher the level is, the more difficult it is to upgrade.

"As long as the boss is defeated, no matter how many people fall during the battle, they will not be punished by level reduction."

"So that's the case, then I understand, my companion and I are going to challenge the mission!"

He exchanged glances with Asuna, and after receiving a nod of approval from the other party, Kirito looked at the knight in front of him and said.

"No problem, but before that, I'll give you something you can use later."

"Something useful? Special props?"

If there are special props provided by NPC, then this means that the enemies that will face in a while may have weaknesses related to special props. In this way, the battle may be easier at that time.

This is the law that Kirito summed up based on his previous battle experience, and it is also an unspoken rule that most game players know. Special props often play a key role, especially before the war, when you get special props, you can There are a lot of supplies, all of which are the default procedures before the BOSS battle.

Kirito looked at the knight in front of him, and this guy smacked from the back of his waist, and took out two glass bottles filled with orange liquid. The lava-like liquid was shaking in the rough bottle body covered with dust.

"This is something called an element bottle. It can restore part of your lost health. During the challenge, all the props on your body will be invalid. Unless you die when you run out of health, otherwise, you can only use them in the mission. Props provided."

Well, Mu Mu's words directly made Kirito and Asuna's previous preparations go to waste, but it doesn't matter, the points saved by the two of them are still not afraid of being wasted, and these things are There is no shelf life, so it is no problem to save it for future leveling.

Kirito and Asuna took the element bottle handed over by Mumu, and before they had time to tighten their backpacks, they saw a row of blank squares appear in their perspective, and the element bottle in their hands was directly put away. Go in, and it becomes an icon that seems to be painted on parchment, and there is a number 3 in the lower right corner of the icon.

"By the way, each element bottle can be used three times. After it is used up, unless you solve the boss and come back here, or you are killed and come back here, or you find and insert this spiral sword When the same bonfire comes back here, the element bottle will automatically replenish the number of uses, understand?"

Kirito and Asuna nodded. After learning that this thing called the element bottle has a limit on the number of times it can be used, Kirito quickly thought about how to maximize the efficiency of these three times of use.

"Okay, there are so many things to explain, so you two, get ready to meet your first challenge!"

Accompanied by Mu Mu's voice, Kirito and Asuna found that a large gray fog rose up around them, covering their vision, and at the same time, with the sound of howling wind, after the fog cleared, Kirito appeared In front of him and Asuna was a wide square.

Chapter 74-One week, start

This is a downward-sloping road, with large cut stones made into a three-tiered staircase, and further forward, there is a huge circular square that has been abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

On the stone buildings not far away, the few remaining arched buildings are like the remaining gates of some kind of medieval church. Apart from these dilapidated stone gates, what is more eye-catching is the left side of the square, the sprawling On the white giant tree above the stone, the roots showed an unhealthy off-white color. Under the dry roots, there were countless stone tombstones, and some white candles were lit in front of the tombstones.

"Kirito, look."

Asuna stretched out her hand and pointed forward, but Kirito didn't need Asuna's reminder, after all, the guy in the center of the square was a bit too big just in terms of size.

It's not that Kirito and Asuna have dealt with large bosses before, but those bosses are generally non-human creatures, such as kobolds, big spiders, head-up people, etc. These guys are also very well dressed. In line with the setting of the fantasy world.

Either the rags were wrapped around his body as clothes, or he had a few decent leather armors on his body, but the guy in front of him, the enemy who was about to accept the challenge of Kirito and Asuna, was half kneeling on the ground, standing beside him A huge black spiral sword was inserted quietly in the chest area of ​​the whole body covered by silver armor.

"This ash-eating judge—Guda, is also the first novice boss you will face."

At some point, the knight named Ashes on his head appeared at the entrance of the square, just behind Kirito and Asuna, and the sudden appearance of Ashes startled them.

"You can observe here as you like. If you want to trigger the boss battle, you just need to pull out the spiral sword from Guda's chest."

Just like a real NPC, Mu Mu dutifully explained what to do next.

In fact, Mumu could have stayed in the Chuanhuo sacrificial field and waited for them to come out like the little mouse came to challenge, but this time it was Kirito and Benzina who came, what are these two going to do? How about facing the novice coach Guda who was once very tormenting?

Mu Mu is still looking forward to this.

But Mumu is also mentally prepared. After all, in Black Soul, the difficulty of these bosses is mainly concentrated in high damage and sudden attacks that are not well grasped. Of course, there are also a small number of rebound players who overestimated their abilities , The rebound failed and was taken away by a set.