novelonline Chapter 565 Idols and Fans
Chapter 565 Idols and Fans
Chapter 565 Idols and Fans
SAO fifth floor Kaluluin.
"Xiaolin! Look, look! There are silver coins here! Oh, there are copper coins here! It's amazing, they are everywhere!" Aqua stuck her butt up and lay on the ground, picking up the coins quickly.
As the Stupid Goddess said, there are silver and copper coins, but they are not the Kerr (money system) within the system. Instead, they are coins with silver trees and a few lines drawn on them, and they look very old.
"Let me see……"
Kobayashi opened the information given by Koharu.
"It says that this floor is called a ruin, and these unearthed objects are called relics. In addition to the roads and walls from long ago, these small relics are scattered everywhere. Hmm, I see."
In general games, the location of props will be indicated on the mini-map, or a flash will be set on the screen to warn the player. But in SAO, it simply fell to the ground without any prompts, and even finding the quest item took a lot of effort. You can imagine how difficult it is to find such a small coin.
This is all related to reaching the fifth floor first.
"Eh? It also says that if you eat a dessert called Blue Meta, you will get a buff called [Relic Discovery Reward]. The effect is that you can see coins or gems that have fallen on the streets or underground of Karuluin, emitting a dim glow. It can be said to be quite useful."
"Gem?"
Well----
Now not only the stupid goddess, but also Darkness, Megumin, and Alice were all interested. As expected, no matter which world, gems are something that girls cannot resist.
"It also says that gems and gold coins are quite rare, so even if you find a buff, it will be hard to find. There are also even rarer things like rings and necklaces with magical effects."
"Ring? Necklace?"
Oh no, the more we talk about it, the more excited they become.
Xiao Lin stepped back: "You don't want to be on this floor..."
"Any questions?"
"...No, it's up to you."
Facing the questioning of others, Xiaolin resolutely kept silent. He had a deep understanding of women's pursuit of gems and jewelry, and he learned most of it from his mother.
He looked at Sato Kazuma again.
"That's really strange. I thought you would scold them and stop them from wasting their time here."
"I'm actually quite interested in this, Senior Kobayashi. Look, the information about this floor - the things related to the relics - is not mentioned in the guidebook. Why? I guess the reason is not that they don't want to mention it, but they are afraid that the fifth floor will be crowded with people, right?"
"……really."
Players are extremely persistent in pursuing benefits, and their sense of smell is like that of sharks, and once they smell blood, they will rush over like crazy.
"Besides, how can we miss out on such good things? Let's pick up as much as we can before the city becomes overcrowded!"
"Oh oh oh————"
Sato Kazuma shouted loudly, arousing the enthusiasm of Aqua and others.
If you think about it carefully, there seems to be no difference between players and adventurers. The strong ones are popular, they follow the first-come-first-served rule, and they form teams when taking on difficult tasks. Especially in this death game where there is no resurrection, they are exactly the same except for the change of name.
"Forget it, just be happy."
He was used to the team being like this.
By the way, they are collectively called Kaluluin coins, which can be exchanged for Kol at NPC exchange merchants on the street, which means that their value is the same as the normal value of the system. Because of this, Kureya and Rein, who were originally not interested, were also aroused.
These two guards spent a lot of money to give Alice better equipment, and they also had to strengthen their own equipment, so their demand for money was enormous.
Following Xiaochun's navigation, the few of them walked back and forth in the alleys and it took them five full minutes to arrive at a store.
——Blink and Brink
"Blink and Edge? Such weird names."
“Why is it called that?”
"Who knows? Anyway, you'll know once you get in."
Kobayashi grabbed the iron door knocker and pulled it hard. The next moment, a cold wind blew in from behind the door, making everyone subconsciously turn their heads away.
Soon, the wind stopped.
Everyone then looked inside.
Behind the door is a square terrace with iron handrails on the front and right sides and a restaurant building on the left. The master-level carving art, combined with the country-style large windows, exudes a very good atmosphere, but soon the eyes are drawn back to the terrace in front.
Alice exclaimed: "So beautiful..."
No one contradicted her.
The inky black on the right side changes to deep blue, blue, and violet before reaching the dark red left over from the setting sun on the left side. The vast night sky fills the entire field of vision.
Looking up, you can see a starry sky that looks like it is about to rain down light, while looking down, you can see an endless sea of clouds that glows faintly under the starlight.
A stunning view that makes your scalp tingle and your whole body tremble.
If you look carefully, you can see a group of large birds flying high up in the sky. They slowly cross the night sky from east to west, and finally disappear among the stars.
"I see, this is what Blink and Brink means."
Huihui looked as if she had suddenly realized something.
At this time, Yunyun saw tall walls slowly winding on the left and right sides of the terrace, and deep inside stood a huge pillar, connecting to the bottom of the next floor a hundred meters above. In other words, they were standing on the edge of Aincrad, just as the name of the store meant.
Xiaolin held Darkness’s shoulders.
"I'm telling you, don't do anything stupid."
"What...! Who do you take me for?!"
"Perverted female knight, what's wrong?"
"Well!"
Darkness’ cheeks blushed, and she looked excited by being insulted. She was no different from the pervert that Kobayashi described.
"In short, don't jump."
This was the observation deck at the edge of Aincrad, even more outward than the town of origin. Jumping down would surely lead to death. If I didn’t warn him, Darkness might really jump down.
"Okay, we're here for dessert, don't waste time."
"Oh yes."
After hearing what Sato Kazuma said, everyone remembered that they came here to discover the visual buff of the relic, so they hurriedly ran towards the terrace again.
It was the best place to dine. Not only could you see the outside of Aincrad, but you could also see the beautiful scenery inside the restaurant. Of course, others wouldn't miss it.
But I didn't expect to meet acquaintances as soon as I arrived here, a black-clad swordsman and a brown-haired beautiful girl.
"Asuna? And Kirito?"
After seeing the two of them, Aqua said stupidly:
"Are you two dating?"
"Date, date, date? That's not it, this is not a date!"
Kirito didn't react, so Asuna slapped the cast iron table hard like a furious kitten.
Kobayashi saw the girl’s red ears.
Yo, yo, yo, you are shy!
...Although he really wanted to say that, saying it would only make the atmosphere awkward, so he decided to just keep quiet.
Kirito also fell silent.
Even though his reputation didn't fall to the bottom because of Sato Kazuma's help, he was still not welcomed as a closed beta player in the game. He was originally a taciturn person with social phobia, and now he is even more taciturn.
I don't understand why he is so socially anxious.
We always team up when fighting a BOSS and our cooperation is pretty good, but I'm still so shy.
Unlike the stupid goddess who didn’t understand the atmosphere, Darkness, who was as mature as her body, was very considerate and said, “Sorry, we’re still disturbing you. We’ll leave now—”
"This is a rare opportunity, let's do it together!"
Asuna spoke decisively, and her firm attitude did not allow others to refuse.
Is this her personality?
The others looked at each other in bewilderment. On the contrary, the stupid goddess who didn't understand the atmosphere sat down and greeted everyone carelessly. Seeing this, Sato Kazuma and the others couldn't leave, so the twelve people, including Kirito and Asuna, sat down at three tables.
Kobayashi and Aqua were at the same table with the two of them.
"Excuse me, I need to order!"
The stupid goddess shouted, but unfortunately no waiter came. Asuna patted the table and explained, "In this store, patting the table is considered an act of calling for a waiter."
"Is that so? You really know it well."
Aqua nodded, and then said to the waiter who came over: "Please give me grilled Poro Poro bird and bubble wine!"
"Wait a minute, why did you order the drunkard's set menu right away? Have you forgotten why we're here?" Kobayashi held her menu.
The stupid goddess slapped her head.
"Oh, I forgot."
"You... sorry, please change the order to Blue Meta and coffee. And one for each person, thank you."
Kobayashi took the initiative to correct the order.
The waitress repeated it, took the menu, and left.
"Blue Meta? Ms. Aqua, do you also want to increase the buff?"
Asuna respects Aqua very much because she saved her from the abyss of pain, so her attitude towards the stupid goddess is obviously different from that of others, but the stupid goddess doesn't know any of this.
"Yes, we came here because we heard that it can make people see gold coins and gems."
"You too? That's lucky, because this store only offers thirty servings a day."
"What, is this really the case?"
Seeing Xiaolin nod in acknowledgement, Aqua immediately shouted, "Excuse me, please let me pack a few copies of Blue Meta!"
As expected of a silly goddess, after confirming that it was a limited edition item, she decisively chose to pack up all the remaining ones.
Unfortunately, her idea failed, because Blue Meta can only be eaten in the store, and the effect only lasts for one hour. Even if you eat more, it will not increase the duration, but it can refresh the time.
Then the waitress came over with twelve desserts and coffee, handing one to each person present.
Asuna was a little surprised.
"this is……"
"Maybe they thought we were together, since we were sitting at the same table. There's no way to take it away, so don't be polite, just consider it my treat and eat it." Kobayashi said.
Aqua also said: "That's right, eat it!"
"Then...thank you."
"……Thanks."
Asuna and Kirito accepted the kindness.
Then Aqua looked at the two of them and suddenly asked, "Guorao Anonymous Sizaiyakai (You are really dating)."
“Pfft, cough, cough, cough!”
Asuna spat out. Fortunately, she turned her head in advance and did not affect others.
Snapped--
She slammed the table hard. "No! We are not dating! We are just here for the relic, just like you, Ms. Aqua!"
Then Asuna glared at Kirito, as if blaming her silent partner.
"Oh……"
The stupid goddess with her mouth full of food, like a hamster, reveals stupidity in her clear eyes.
It’s not, it’s not. Why are you so excited?
Looking at Asuna with rosy cheeks and Kirito with his head buried in coffee, Kobayashi sighed at their immaturity.
Soon, a piece of dessert was eaten.
The greedy Aqua wanted to taste the food in this store again, but the BUFF of the limited dessert only lasted for one hour, and she was dragged away by Asuna before she could place an order.
Sato Kazuma and others also followed. After all, they were all interested in the relics on the fifth floor. They hoped that they could pick up high-quality relics.
Then, only Kobayashi and Kirito were left in the store. Two men sitting together with desserts in front of them looked awkward no matter how you looked at it.
The atmosphere was a little tense.
Kirito pursed his lips and hesitated for a long time before speaking: "Hello, long time no see, Mr. Kobayashi."
"Long time no see... Although I want to say this, we defeated the BOSS of the fourth floor together two days ago, and we were even in the same team." Kobayashi said with a teasing expression.
Kirito's whole body suddenly stiffened.
You don't have to guess to know that he must be feeling very embarrassed now, and if there was a crack in the ground he would want to crawl into it.
"Hahaha--"
Kobayashi smiled and said, "Don't be so nervous, Kirito. It's completely different from how you are in battle. Why are you so shy? We have worked together so many times, so we should be very familiar with each other. From what I know, you have a good relationship with Agil."
“Yes, yes…”
Kirito was still a little embarrassed.
He did have a good relationship with Agil, and the two of them didn't meet very often.
But for Kirito, they are different.
Agil was just an ordinary player, but Kobayashi had developed a new way to play the game, a new routine that no one had developed even during the closed beta period. Especially since Kirito was a high-level player, he naturally understood how exaggerated this technique that was out of the system was, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was dancing on the edge of a knife, so he couldn't help but admire him.
In other words, he became a fan of Kobayashi and naturally seemed reserved when meeting his idol.
To be honest, Kirito once suspected whether Kobayashi was Kayaba Akihiko's man, or was simply the incarnation of Kayaba Akihiko himself. However, as they spent more and more time together and with the information from Argo and other sources, it was proven that Kobayashi was just an ordinary yet not-so-ordinary player.
"So...Kirito, has anything strange happened recently?"
"No, there isn't."
Kirito shook his head.
This is basically the standard greeting for the strategy team.
The strategy group is not together all the time. They are only invited and show up when conquering a BOSS. In order to keep an eye on any anomalies in the game, they will also exchange information.
By the way, the two of them have no friends.
Kobayashi thinks that Kirito is a lone wolf player who doesn't like to add other people as friends, just like a certain big devil said that he doesn't give fans contact information. And Kirito is shy about the relationship between idols and fans and doesn't dare to ask for contact information.
There were some subtle misunderstandings between them.
Kirito suddenly paused, thought for a moment and said, "No...if you want to talk about strange things, there is one."
"what?"
"A way to kill people legally without getting a red name."
"What method? Please tell me in detail."
Xiaolin narrowed his eyes and became serious.
(End of this chapter)