Chapter 615: Moonlit Black Cats
Wait, do girls judge people by appearances too?
Wu Yan felt bewildered, he’s not sure what’s on this blushing girl’s mind. His confusion morphed into helplessness.
“Fine, let’s assume I am not a villain. What makes you so sure I can enhance your survival odds?”
Wu Yan crossed his arms and he stared into her eyes.
“I already said I am not a beta tester, don’t you believe me?”
“No, it’s not that…”
The girl flailed her arms in panic. She’s clearly not used to doing something like this, somehow or the other, she managed to voice her thoughts.
“With such an impressive set of equipment, I believe that even if you’re not a beta tester, you should be someone who is skilled enough to attain that equipment on your own. Either way, whether or not you’re a beta tester, I am very confident that you will be able to help me!”
The girl said as if she’s got this analyzed. Wu Yan asked her another question.
“Okay, what makes you so sure I will allow you to become my follower?…”
“I am not sure…”
The young girl lowered her head.
“I don’t have a lot of choices…”
“I am very weak and I am not good with using my skills, my gaming skills are also very poor. Those guilds and capable squads all rejected my application…”
“No way…”
Wu Yan supported his chin while praising her.
“Has the world gone mad? I mean you’re so cute, I find it hard to imagine no one wanted to protect you…”
The young girl didn’t expect this so she wasn’t sure how she should respond. Similarly, Wu Yan regretted his sentence.
He is okay with such a cute girl wanting to follow him. But, carrying her is going to slow him down.
Right now, every second is very precious. He could be raiding dungeons or getting tons of treasure instead of rearing her. If he fell behind other players, that would be bad. He’s not cocky enough to think that he would be able to maintain his no.1 status by resting on his laurels. He didn’t forget that there’s a certain original protagonist who’s busting his ass trying to advance as far as he can.
As much as he wanted to do so, he couldn’t bring this girl with him…
“You know, you could just stay at this town until someone clears this game…”
Wu Yan tried to advise her.
“There are almost no dangers in the town. Just focus on your sub-classes and life skills, income shouldn’t be a problem once you reach a high enough level, I don’t see why you should put your life on the line like this if you’re that afraid?…”
“But my sub-class is a potion master…”
The girl said with frustration.
“I need expensive materials to make potions and I lacked the skills to get the materials on my own, I just don’t see this working out for me.”
“Well, that’s how it is during the beginning…”
Wu Yan tried persuading her.
“The prices of materials are bound to go down given enough time. Meanwhile, your skill level will also increase steadily. I am sure you can pull through, isn’t that right?…”
The young lady then asked a very obvious question with a puzzled look.
“How am I going to survive until that point?”
Wu Yan was stumped for words.
The girl knew she was asking too much. It’s already magnanimous of Wu Yan to entertain her until now. She lowered her head as sadness brewed within her. Wu Yan is also not sure how he should turn her down.
At this moment, a squad made of 5 players came out of the town and they encountered the two of them.
“Ah?…”
A guy with nunchucks saw Wu Yan and he was stunned by him. His eyes quickly brightened up.
“That’s him! That’s the beta tester!”
“A beta tester?”
Another male player with a Warhammer confirmed this after taking a closer look.
“Yeah, that’s him!”
“He looks like he’s by himself…”
“Guild master!”
The guy with nunchucks mused to himself while the Warhammer guy cried out in surprise.
“Don’t tell me you’re…”
“Don’t go thinking about nonsense!”
The guild master explained himself.
“I just wanted to invite him into our guild!”
“Our guild?”
The guild members around him exchange looks of doubt.
“But, he’s a beta tester…”
The nunchucks guy lifted his head after clearing the hesitation in his head.
“In any case, we should greet him.”
The others nodded. The guild master led them over to Wu Yan’s place and they disrupted the private awkward moment between the two.
“Hello there…”
Wu Yan already noticed them before they arrived and he asked them.
“And, you are?…”
The nunchucks guy stopped and he greeted Wu Yan.
“Hello, I am the guild master of Moonlit Black Cats, Keita!”
“Moonlit Black Cat?”
Wu Yan stopped and he noticed a familiar feminine figure standing at the back of this group. She was the only female member of this group.
“Sac-chan!”
Wu Yan called out with an ‘O’-shaped mouth
“Sac-chan?”
The other members were surprised that Wu Yan knew her. Keita gasped.
“You know Sachi?”
Wu Yan returned to his senses. He heartily laughed while trying to change the subject. He is still secretly pleased with their encounter here.
He didn’t think he would encounter them after just a day in SAO. The Moonlit Black Cats guild had a very tragic outcome in the original story. Mostly, people weren’t pleased with Sachi’s fate.
“Well, what business do you have with me?”
Wu Yan asked.
Keita stopped and he continued with an unsteady tone.
“Erm, we just wanted to see one of the legendary beta testers…”
“Legendary? Beta tester?”
Wu Yan shook his head.
“I am not sure what’s the big fuss, I am not legendary nor am I a beta tester…”
“But, you…”
Keita looked at Wu Yan’s equipment.
Wu Yan shrugged.
“I got it by luck…”
“I see…”
Keita then made up his mind and he told Wu Yan.
“Since you’re not a beta tester, I want to extend an invitation!”
“Enter your guild?”
Wu Yan flinched in shock.
“Everybody wants to get me to join because they think I’m a beta tester. I am just surprised you guys don’t want beta testers in your guild.”
Keita rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
Wu Yan recalled how Keita cursed Kirito when his guild got wiped out. He cursed Kirito for being a beater (beta cheater portmanteau). He told Kirito that someone like him wasn’t qualified to join Moonlit Black Cats. Wu Yan looked at Sachi who was sneaking peeks at him.
His eyes shone when he saw the girl who wanted to be his follower.
“Well, Keita…”
Wu Yan smiled at him.
“Sorry, due to various factors, I can’t participate actively in your guild so I don’t think I can join as a member…”
Keita’s disappointed look was met with Wu Yan’s shoulder pat. He pointed at the girl.
“But, I hope you will let her join your guild!”
Moonlit Black Cats were astonished but they listened anyway…
“See, it’s like that…”
He explained to Keita about her situation. Keita was very open-minded and he immediately came up with a decision.
“Sure, Moonlit Black Cats only have 5 members right now, if this miss wants to join, we will welcome her with open arms!”
“Really?!”
The young girl was clearly overjoyed with this. She bounced around energetically. Sachi looked like she found her soul sister.
“Thank you, you did me a solid with this…”
Wu Yan extended an arm towards Keita. He took out a large amount of Cors and some excellent equipment he got from mob hunts and he put them in the exchange tab for players to do trade.
Keita jumped in surprise.
“Th-this..”
“Maa, just take this as a small gift from me to someone who helped me…”
Wu Yan chuckled.
“With so much money and equipment, the guild should be able to survive for quite some time…”
“We can’t possibly accept something so big!”
Keita tried to reject his gift. Obviously, Wu Yan had no idea how precious his gift was.
“Well, I don’t see why not!”
He walked towards Sachi and he rubbed her head.
“I just hope you will be able to escape your fears with this little gift from me…”
Sachi looked at him in a daze. When she came to herself, Wu Yan was already some distance away from me.
Subconsciously, Sachi yelled after him.
“What’s your name?!”
“Wu Yan…”
He yelled back
The follower girl came back to her senses.
“Hey, nice guy! My name’s Shion~~”
The figure in the distance tripped and he fell not unlike those comedic characters in comic strips.