I like traveling the most

"Hey, Ruth, you came early today."

"You too, Andy."

"Then let's get started."

"No problem."

Ruth and Andy are both members of the strategy team. The difference is that they are not members of a certain guild, but are lone wolf players like Kirito.

It's just that when the strategy team was gradually replaced by the Blood Alliance Knights and other guilds, some players spontaneously formed teams in order to pursue upgrade efficiency and avoid being kicked out of the strategy team. They are one of them.

During the monster upgrade period.

"By the way, Ruth, have you heard of the world's first martial arts meeting?"

"I know. By the way, this name plagiarized the idea of ​​Mr. Bird Xming, it's too funny."

"That's what I said."

"Hahaha——"X2

The two laughed at the same time.

After a while,

"Are you going?"

"No. Are you going?"

"Are members of the strategy team condescending to attend the festival and being watched by others?"

"Can you still be called a strategy team member if you are treated like a monkey?"

"Despicable. Hahaha——"X2

The two laughed at the same time again.

After that, they stopped talking and focused on killing monsters to increase their levels, and worked harder than before. Until the evening——

"Okay, let's stop here today."

"Yeah."

"Do you have time later? Do you want to have a drink together?"

"To be honest, I have a date later. I have to go to the garden on the 47th floor."

"Really? Then——"

"See you tomorrow."X2

The two turned around and left quickly. Then, the dazzling light of the moving crystal occupied the field of vision. When the blue fragments gradually dissipated, Rutt and Andy met at the teleportation point of the starting town on the first floor, and the two looked at each other. After a long time——

"Didn't you say you were going to drink?"

"You are the one, aren't you going on a date?"

They started fighting in the town without paying attention to anyone else. Fortunately, the two were still in a team, so they didn't attack each other, and their names didn't turn orange.

But their fight also attracted spectators and caused traffic jams. It wasn't until the receptionist of the Akusis Church came out that the riot was stopped, and two more players from the strategy group who participated in the festival were added.

And such scenes are played every day, and the players who come and go are no longer surprised.

The members of the strategy group look high and cold and look down on everything, but in fact, they treat you like a goddess who dislikes you. If you find the right way, they will smile at you.

Nothing else.

It's just because they give too much.

Before the news of holding the world's first martial arts meeting was publicized, Heathcliff heard about it, and soon he expressed his hope to hold the festival together, of course, he would pay half of the prizes.

Considering that the Blood Knights had joined, and it was more convincing with the endorsement of the two top guilds in Aincrad, Xiaolin agreed to this request.

"Haa... there are so many people coming."

Kirito looked at the town of origin.

He bet that this was the busiest day in the town of origin except for the first day of the server opening.

Many people would not return to the town of origin after leaving it. In addition to the few monsters and rewards in the town of origin, there was also the psychological fear brought to them by Kayaba Akihiko, which made them unwilling to think about what happened on the day of the server opening.

But now the fear has completely dissipated, replaced by everyone rubbing their hands and eager to try.

"This is the reason."

He raised his head and looked at the notice posted on the bulletin board of the town of origin.

It wrote the requirements, rules and prizes for participating in the world's first martial arts competition. At the top was the only resurrection item in SAO, the Holy Crystal of Resurrection, followed by high-quality weapons, props, Cole, etc., which were so generous that people felt incredible and suspected that it was a scam.

But when they saw the emblem of the Axis Church and the Blood Alliance Knights at the bottom of the notice, they finally confirmed that this was true.

So the whole Aincrad was shocked.

Every day, many players came to sign up, and players who did not meet the requirements also ran to the wild day and night to upgrade frantically, just to get some benefits. Even under this frenzy, the 55th floor, which had not been conquered for a long time, was also broken through.

In a game that speaks with numbers, every bit of improvement is a bit, and the members of the strategy team will not slack off.

"Now I have to work hard."

"Humph, as expected, you have set your eyes on that prize."

A familiar voice came from behind.

"... Asuna?"

The beautiful girl in red and white armor is the vice-leader of the Blood Alliance Knights, Asuna, who is known as the ghost of strategy.

They haven't seen each other for a long time.

Don't get me wrong, it's just that Kirito is a lone wolf player who upgrades by himself, and the 55th floor has not been conquered for a long time, so they haven't seen each other for a long time. It's definitely not that Kirito is hanging out with other beautiful girls and cheating on his wife. It's definitely not like that.

"Yeah, I think a lot of players (males) have their eyes on that prize."

"I think so, that..."

"The Soul of Resurrection Crystal." "The chance to meet the idol princess."

"...Huh?" X2

Asuna seemed to have misunderstood something.

The brown-haired beautiful girl felt extremely ashamed and angry under Kirito's strange gaze. Her white neck was dyed with an attractive pink color until her ears were completely dyed red. Then she said nothing and simply turned around and ran away.

"...What's wrong with her?"

Kirito looked confused.

Then he shook his head, no longer thinking about these things, and went to the festival registration office set up by the Axis Cult.

Met many acquaintances there.

"Oh, it's coming!"

After Sato Kazuma saw Kirito, who was dressed in black, he immediately stood up and waved excitedly: "This way, this way! Come on, I thought you didn't plan to come!"

"No, no, no, there won't be anyone who won't come for such a generous reward, and this is the best opportunity to test who can stand on top of the 8,700 players."

"Who knows what the famous swordsman in black thinks?"

Seeing him sign up, Sato Kazuma finally felt relieved and whispered with a guilty conscience: "You don't know, I bought your peripherals. If you don't participate, I will pay a lot of compensation."

"...Hey, don't do this to me!"

Kirito made a rare rant.

The two are similar in age, and Sato Kazuma is more open-minded - at least much better than Kirito, who is afraid of social problems. In addition, they often attack floors together, so they are very familiar with each other.

"By the way, how many places can you get if you beat me?"

"Win the championship."

"Really or not?"

"Of course. I believe in your strength very much, Kirito, so I put my wealth on you without any reservation."

"You're putting me under a lot of pressure."

Kirito felt the heavy expectation.

The black swordsman is a famous player in the strategy team. His level is very high and his skills are exaggeratedly strong. In addition, he is a lone wolf player. Many members of the strategy team believe that Kirito may be the strongest player in Aincrad.

"That's what I say, but Xiao Lin, Liu Zi and Heathcliff, I don't have the confidence to defeat them."

"Ah, don't worry about that, none of the three of them will participate."

"...What's going on?"

"Kobayashi-senpai and Ryuji are not suitable for dueling in the arena. Heathcliff said that he is not very good at attacking, so they both chose to withdraw. So Kirito, you are the favorite to win this time!"

"Yes, yes..."

Kirito felt a little disappointed.

The vast majority of people attending this festival came for the rewards, but quite a few people wanted to prove and confirm who was the strongest player in Aincrad, so they ran with great interest and eagerness. Come and participate. Several strong players who knew how to compete had withdrawn from the competition, which made Kirito, who wanted to fight them, feel a little uncomfortable.

Forget it, there is nothing we can do about it.

Besides them, aren’t there others?

Although the members of the strategy team got together when defeating the BOSS, they had never dueled before. This time they just took this opportunity to compete with each other!

Kirito clenched his fists.

"By the way, Asuna, will she participate?"

"Of course she will participate, and she signed up before you. ...I understand, there is adultery!"

Sato Kazuma covered his mouth and curled his tongue.

He learned the essence of a certain little blue cat, whose mean look made the boy in black feel ashamed.

"Kazuma!"

"But I'm sorry, it's all random who fights with whom. It's very likely that you will meet her in the first game. I can't do anything to operate behind the scenes."

"No, I didn't mean that..."

Kirito clenched his fists and said with a determined expression: "No matter who it is, I will never give in and win the final victory."

He has this confidence.

He will definitely be able to rely on the exclusive skills he gained after completing the fiftieth floor strategy, even if his trump card is exposed.

"Oh, it's good to have faith."

"Of course, I will definitely win. Even if I meet Asuna, I will not give in. Because she is very strong. If I play against a strong person and still give in, wouldn't it be disrespectful to her?"

Kirito promised.

Sato Kazuma looked behind him and said, "That's what he said, Miss Asuna."

"I heard it."

"...Eh?"

A familiar voice came from behind, and Kirito suddenly started sweating.

It was as if he was suddenly connected to the campus network. The signal was very poor. He stiffened his movements and twisted his neck backwards. He saw the well-known deputy leader of the Blood Alliance Knights.

"A-Asuna..."

His voice became extremely hoarse.

Asuna was not angry because of this. Instead, she was happy that Kirito would not let go. However, the girl was naturally not to be outdone when faced with a declaration of war.

"You're right. I won't be merciful in the same way. Let's see the truth when the time comes."

Then she turned and left.

Kirito was left messy in the wind.

Sato Kazuma couldn't stand it any longer and pushed his shoulder: "Why are you still standing here? Hurry up and catch up."

"oh oh!"

At this time, Kirito woke up from a dream and hurriedly chased after him.

"What happened to them?"

Kobayashi and Aqua, who had just arrived here, were curious when they saw the backs of the two people who left in a hurry. After listening to Sato Kazuma's explanation, they felt that it was very much like a romantic comedy.

I hope the two will meet in the first round.

...Xiao Lin is sincerely looking forward to it.

"How about it, Kazuma, how many players are participating in the festival this time."

"A lot. There are now more than 400 people. A rough estimate will be more than 500 people."

“Didn’t that mean almost all the top players participated?”

"yes."

There are about 8,700 players in Aincrad, of which 5,000 to 6,000 are low-level players. They will not go to dangerous places such as the maze area in order to survive.

The remaining 2,000 players are middle-level players who want to keep up with the progress of the strategy team but are not capable enough. They are stuck there.

The first 200 to 300 players are top players. Some of them are members of the strategy team, and some are reserve members of the strategy team. In short, they are very strong.

The remaining fifty people - to be precise, forty-eight people, are the real members of the strategy team standing at the top of the game, and their strength is even more terrifying. It is precisely because of this that Rosaria and the others were so panicked when they knew that Kirito was a member of the strategy team.

Now that they are all gathered here, I wonder how gorgeous the sword skills they will bring to the audience.

"Why don't we just charge some ticket fees? Otherwise, it's a waste for them to watch it?"

"... Kazuma?"

"That's for the members of the strategy team, ordinary players can't see it at all. Otherwise, the qualifiers will be free to watch, and the top 32 will start to charge ticket fees, and the top 16, top 8, top 4... the higher the ticket prices are. By the way, why not make it a lottery to buy tickets, so that if you don't have a ticket, you can only blame your bad luck instead of complaining that we charge money... That's right, let's do it!"

"——Head!"

Kobayashi, who saw the shadow of ZB in him, couldn't help it at all, and slapped Sato Kazuma on the back of his head.

This person is really obsessed with money. He wants to make money no matter what. Even if he has the talent to be a businessman, it's too much.

In the end, under Kobayashi's strong resistance, the ticket system was not implemented.

"By the way, Kobayashi senior."

Sato Kazuma leaned over Kobayashi's ear and whispered like a thief: "Did you place a bet?"

"...Of course."

"Who is it?"

"The strongest one."

The two smiled tacitly.

How could they miss such a hot bet, and they all had the strongest candidate in mind.

Kobayashi picked up the registration form casually.

He saw that there were many people participating, and there were many familiar names, Kirito, Asuna, Rinko, Koharu, Diabel, their strength was very strong, and they were all recognized by the members of the strategy team. But——

"Has that person come?"

"... No, not yet."

"Really."

"Does Senior Kobayashi think he will participate? In the public eye?"

"I don't know. It's possible that he will send other players to participate, and the probability of this will be a little higher, after all, he likes to hide himself behind the scenes."

His name was not mentioned, but both knew who was talking about.

"Senior Kobayashi, I'm still not good."

"Don't worry, don't we have level requirements, and I don't think he will make trouble under this situation."

This is a festival for all SAO players, so Kobayashi sent invitations to all players, such as Diabel, Kibo, and Xinka. Of course, the same is true for PoH.

Will you show up?

Will you do anything?

Xiao Lin was actually looking forward to it.