"It's been almost two years since this game of death began." "fighting solo on the front lines." "watching." "I wonder what he's thinking right now?" "Guess I'll head home." "2024 Floor 74:" "Dungeon" "80)}Mitometeta okubyou na kako 1060)}The cowardly past that I'd acknowledged" "80)}Wakaranai mama ni 80)}Kowagatteta ushiro no jibun ga Genjitsu wo ima ni utsusu scared Projecting reality onto today" "80)}Ikutsu mono sora wo egaita 1060)}I've drawn so many skies" "80)}Koko wa kitto hakanai kokoro 1060)}This must be my fleeting heart" "80)}Midashite 1060)}Out of control" "80)}Yume de takaku tonda karada wa this body soars so high" "80)}Donna fuan matotte mo furiharatteku 1060)}And it can brush away any fears that cling to me" "80)}Nemuru chiisana omoi hirogari dashite these budding feelings start to expand" "80)}Kizuku yowai watashi kimi ga ireba weak as I am..." "As long as I had you 80)}Kurai sekai tsuyoku ireta 1060)}I could stay strong in this dark world" "80)}Nagai yume miru kokoro wa sou eien de 1060)}My heart will dream a long dream forever" "I want to always be with you" "I'll give you everything I have... 746)}Black and White Sword Dance" "You gotta be kidding." "1070)}Floor 50:" "Algade 936)}No way... 256)}{\frz-10}Skull Powder" "418)}{\frz-12}Ragout Rabbit Meat 644)}Lizardman Skin" "844)}{\frz-14}Lizardman Scales" "This is an S-class rare item!" "Holy crap!" "This is the first time I've ever seen one!" "Kirito." "Don't you already have all the money you need?" "wouldn't you rather have it for dinner?" "it's just... who knows if I'll ever get another one." "So keep it. you need to have a high enough cooking skill." "we'd just burn it." "Kirito..." "I've got my chef." "Uh..." "What chef?" "Asuna's here." "Seeing you in a dump like this is beyond weird." "save it." "I came to see if you were still alive." "You know it's almost time for the next boss raid." "just check that." "Whatever." "Now I know you're alive." "what are you up to?" "What's all this about a chef?" "that." "I was wondering what your cooking skill level is." "Totally maxed it out last week." " Wha?" " What?" "huh?" "I need a favor." "You-You got a Ragout Rabbit!" "I'll trade you." "and I'll let you have a little bite." "Half!" "Deal?" "Yeah... deal." "All right!" "pal." "You heard the lady." "Guess I'm keeping it." "man!" "but only two pages." "Promise!" "Damn!" "That is cold." "So... where am I gonna cook it?" "well... right?" "Do you even own any cookware?" "Okay." "I won't have a problem if we use my place this time." "Thank you for escorting me." "You may go." "ma'am." "But I can't allow you to go home with such a shady character." "but I know he's quite skilled." "Kuradeel." "Are you implying I'm inferior to him?" "I know... isn't he?" "Yeah." "What if I am?" "ma'am!" "All his kind care about is themselves." "You can't expect anything good to come from scum like that." "what's going on?" "That's Lightning Flash Asuna!" "You're right!" "She's really cute!" "Listen." "I'm second-in-command here." "I am ordering you to go home." "Are you sure about this?" "Of course!" "1066)}Floor 61:" "Selmburg" "There's hardly anyone around." "It's really cool." "why don't you move here?" "this floor seems way out of my price range." "what's the deal with that guy back there?" "He was mad dogging me like crazy." "he's just my bodyguard." "The guild's new policy says all higher-ups have to have an escort." "It's lame." "The guild didn't have all these rules and regulations before." "We used to be really small." "more and more people joined up. everything started getting weird." "I'm probably making a bigger deal out of it than it is." "we better hurry." "It's getting dark." "okay." "you've got a killer pad." "Hey... how much did all this cost?" "The room and furniture cost around four million Col." "make yourself at home." "Uh...sure." "Holy moly..." "Four million... that's a lot of col." "but blowing it all on a flat?" "Are you gonna take off your coat or what?" "sorry." "So this is a legendary S-class ingredient?" "Okay." "How do you want this cooked up?" "I thought I'd leave that decision up to the chef." "In that case..." "How about we make it into a stew?" "Ragout..." "That's pretty much the definition of a stew." "there'd be a lot more steps involved in preparing this." "it's kind of boring." "That takes care of that." "Now for the next step." "I was thinking about making a couple side dishes. and this is the first time I've ever eaten S-class food." "I'm so happy I've survived long enough to eat that." "Yeah....me too..." "It's so weird..." "I get this feeling..." "that like I've lived here my entire life." "You ever feel like that?" "there's days I don't even think about the real world at all." "And it's not just me." "more and more people don't seem to care about clearing the game and getting back to the real world." "I noticed there's not that many players out there fighting on the front lines." "Maybe five hundred... if that." "I guess... they're used to it." "They don't care anymore." "I wanna go back." "there's things I haven't done yet." "I have to." "I know how you feel." "right?" "All the people who still count on us." "it's not fair to them." "Uh-uh." "Don't go there." "What?" "and always right before they proposed to me." "You should see your face." "I guess you never had a girlfriend before." "Eh... whatever." "I'm a solo player." "And you're okay with that?" "You don't ever want to join a guild?" "I know how the beta players don't fit in with the guilds." "But... things are getting more dangerous." "The monster algorithms are even more irregular." "There are things a solo player can't handle." "Unexpected things." "warping out isn't an option." "well..." "I'm pretty careful." "I work better by myself anyway." "party members just get in the way." "Oh yeah?" "My bad." "Everyone except for you." "Good." "what do you say you and me team up again?" "Black's my lucky color this week anyway." "Hold up a sec!" "Don't you have stuff you have to do for your guild?" "You can't just bail on them!" "It's not like we have any leveling quotas to meet." "what about your bodyguard?" "I'll just ditch him." "887)}invites you to join her party." "though." "844)}invites you to join her party." "Okay." "F-Fine." "753)}{\frz-1}invites you to join her party." "so..." "Thank you!" "Thank you for cooking it." "what am I saying..." "I'll never get my hands on something like that again." "you can make anything yummy if you have the skills to cook." "Looking at this world... is this really what Akihiko Kayaba wanted to create?" "2024 Floor 74:" "Calmdet" "Where is she?" "Watch out!" "Ow..." "What is this thing?" "Hmm..." "Squishy." "no!" "Ow." "Asuna." "What's wrong?" "ma'am?" "I'm only following orders." "let's go back to headquarters!" "I won't!" "Especially not with you!" "huh?" "You have a bad habit of leaving without any warning." "part of my mission has been to keep an eye on you in Selmburg." "What?" "Who ordered this?" "It wasn't the commander." "my mission is to guard you." "including your home." "you idiot!" "ma'am." "let's return to headquarters." "Sorry..." "But I'll be borrowing your second-in-command for the day." "So you'll just have to make do without her." "I'll take responsibility for her security." "Don't worry." "It's not like we're going on a boss raid." "You can go." "She'll be fine with me." "Insolent punk!" "Do you know who I am?" "I'm a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood Oath." "A low-level player like you couldn't protect her!" "I can do a better job of it than you." "kid." "I'm going to give you a chance to prove just how tough you really are." "573)}{\frx-5}Will you accept duel request?" "761)}{\frx-5}Opponent:" "868)}{\frx-5}Type:" "Are you sure?" "Don't worry." "I'll tell the commander how this happened." "480)}{\frx-9}Normal Mode 580)}Time-Limit Mode" "680)}One-Strike Mode 706)}One-Strike" "ma'am." "I'm going to prove beyond any doubt that I am the only one who can protect you." "Kirito's gonna duel a guy from the Knights of the Blood Oath." "This'll be fun to watch." "I can't believe it..." "Holy crap." "He destroyed a sword!" "How'd he do that?" "I'll be glad to take you on." "Or...we can call it a day." "Asuna..." "I don't know how but he cheated!" "You saw how he destroyed my sword!" "He must have used some kind of trick!" "There's no other way I could've lost to a pathetic beater like him! I'm relieving you of your duties as my bodyguard." "You're to return to headquarters and wait for further orders." "You...you can't be serious!" "Damn you..." "Teleport:" "Grandzam." "I'm so sorry." "I didn't mean to drag you into that." "it's no big deal." "I'm worried about you." "Are you okay?" "I am." "is all." "Maybe 'cause I've been so focused on clearing the game." "Or maybe 'cause I'm so demanding of the other members in the guild." "I get that." "But you didn't have much of a choice." "you think your guild would've gotten as far as they have?" "right? so what?" "That's your decision to make." "no one's got the right to complain." "Screw 'em." "Wow." "Thank you for your opinion on the subject." "Okay." "I accept your offer and I'll be taking a day off from the guild." "You can play forward today." "Huh?" "W-wait a second!" "Aren't we supposed to take turns as forward?" "remember?" "come on!" "1070)}Floor 74:" "Dungeon" "Having someone along who knows how to fight sure makes things easier." "Kirito!" "Right!" "look." "Is that what I think it is?" "Uh-huh." "We found the boss room." "What do we do?" "You think we should look inside?" "boss monsters never leave the rooms they guard." "I think we'll be okay if we just take a peek." "okay." "just in case." "Right." "Okay." "Are you ready?" "Mhmm." "80)}Tookuni kikoeta kane no ne ga sukoshi samishikute 1060)}The tolling of the faraway bells sounded a little lonely to me" "80)}Mou ichido tsuyoku kondo wa takaku kake nuketa all the way up" "80)}Tada kurikaesu genjitsu mo 1060)}Neither this reality that just keeps repeating itself" "80)}Hoshi no kazu no negai goto mo as numerous as the stars" "80)}Mezasu beki asu wo mitsuketa 1060)}Now that I've found the tomorrow I should strive for" "80)}Kono omoi ni wa katenai 1060)}None of them can overcome these feelings of mine" "80)}Me no mae ni hirakareta hate nai sekai opening up before my eyes" "80)}Tatoe yume demo ii 1060)}Even if it's no more than a dream" "80)}Mayoi tsuzukete mo mune no oku de tsuyoku it is strong" "80)}Zutto zutto hibiiteku 1060)}Echoing forever and ever" "80)}Sotto sotto hikatteru ever so softly" "838)}Next Time:" "The Blue-Eyed Demon"