Chapter 666: I will leave this glorious mission to you
Wu Yan, Silica, Sachi, and Shion chatted away happily while Kirito fell into a conundrum.
“Hah?...”
Inside a player run shop, Agil, Kirito’s best friend almost couldn’t believe his ears.
“You want me to help you contact Asuna?...”
Agil looked at Kirito like he’s asking for something weird.
“I thought you had a hard time dealing with her?”
Although they are both frontline players, they are infamous for always bickering over strategies in regards to floor boss raids.
Asuna is known as the Demon of Floor Conquest. She also has another moniker, the Berserker. Asuna isn’t afraid of high-risks strategies. For instance, she would attract the agro and let other players attack the player while she fights against the boss on her own. She traded her HP for the boss’ Hp instead of slowly chipping the boss down with player rotations. HP can be regained in time but Kirito doesn’t agree with her less than graceful methods.
They would always fight over strategies and other minor details, they even started fights with each other over slight differences. Why would Kirito intentionally contact Asuna?
Is the Black Swordsman another victim of The Flash’s charms? Maybe he wanted to ask her out?
Agil looked at Kirito with a bewildered look. Kirito was slightly annoyed.
“What are you even thinking about?”
Kirito sighed and continued.
“I just wanted to ask her some stuff.”
“Is that so?”
Agil continued to look at Kirito with a slightly suspicious attitude. Then, he thought about how his best friend usually acted and he reckoned that his suspicions rest upon doubtful assumptions. Finally, he nodded.
“Fine, I can call her for you.”
Agil added.
“Seriously, you two are in the frontline raid group, why can’t you two just add each other as friends?”
Kirito rubbed the back of his head and he replied with a slight headache.
“Yeah, we aren’t that familiar with each other. Sure, we teamed up once during the first-floor boss fight, but, she joined the Knights of Blood Oath after that and turned into the Demon of Floor Conquest.”
Kirito raised his head and he mused with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
“But, it looks to me like Asuna isn’t herself during our recent operations.”
Agil stopped maintaining his inventories and he locked his brows.
“Yes, Asuna suggested drastic measures like letting a tank get hit while the others focus-fire on the boss. But, you’re right, she changed tactics from extreme measures to slow-and-steady ones. It’s almost like...”
“She’s not that hurried about clearing floors!”
Kirito spoke out.
“Yes! That’s the feeling I’m getting!”
Agil hammered his palm and he rubbed his chin.
“Why the sudden change though?”
“Saa, who knows...”
Kirito leaned against the counter as he nonchalantly came up with a theory.
“Maybe she’s bothered by her title of the Berserker.”
Kirito feels like that’s not the real reason. There has to be another reason why Asuna changed.
Kirito recalled the incident where he joined forces with another player to incarcerate the members of the Titan’s Hand.
“You want my help to find a suitable weapon for you?”
Kirito felt confused by Wu Yan’s request. He used his free favor from winning the bet between them to get Kirito to help him out. Kirito looked at the Heaven Gazer on his back.
“I thought you had no trouble upgrading your weapon as you grow? Why would you suddenly need another weapon? Don’t tell me you finally outgrown your weapon?”
“No, it’s not that...”
Wu Yan scratched his cheek as he helplessly replied.
“Heaven Gazer served me faithfully and I invested a lot of resources into it so it’s not a bottleneck weapon for me. But, I only have one Heaven Gazer. I need another weapon on par with this weapon or better.”
“Another one?”
Kirito knitted his brows as he finally realized his motives.
“That’s right, I almost forgot you can use two weapons since you obtained the unique skill, Dual Blades.”
“Yeah.”
Wu Yan sighed.
“I have been troubled by this issue for quite some time now. I searched high and low but there are no weapons that fit my needs that’s why I turned to you.”
“Ah, I see why you chose to wager with me.”
Kirito’s lip twitched.
“So you planned for all of this from the start...”
“Well, you know more people than me.”
Wu Yan patted Kirito on his shoulders.
“Besides you, I don’t know who I can count on...”
“I thought you’re very close with the Black Cats, why don’t you ask them?”
Kirito turned towards Wu Yan.
“I think it should be easy for them to find a worthy weapon or someone proficient enough to craft one.”
“You’re right, I was thinking that until...”
Wu Yan revealed a dazzling smile.
“I met you on the way...”
Kirito choked and he retorted.
“I am a solo player so my PR isn’t that good. Maybe you chose the wrong person for this?”
“Hmm?”
Wu Yan narrowed his eyes.
“Kirito-san, are you trying to back out of our deal?”
“No no.”
Kirito started sweating.
“I just don’t know any good blacksmiths...”
“Oh, I’ve got that figured out for you.”
Wu Yan addressed Kirito.
“I heard Asuna is acquainted with a very capable blacksmith. You should ask her to point you towards that blacksmith.”
“You want me to go and find her?”
Kirito backed away.
“You do know I am not on a friendly term with her, right?”
“I just want you to ask about her friend’s ID or location.”
Wu Yan chuckled.
“I am sure if you ask nicely, she would show you the way.”
“You sound like the expert here, why don’t you go do it yourself?”
Wu Yan’s smile froze.
Is he going to tell Kirito that he’s too nervous to contact her?
Kirito is going to have a field day laughing at him over this.
As Kirito judged him, Wu Yan stuttered before he blew his tops.
“Stop giving me excuses, you’re the one who lost the bet! Are you gonna do it or not?!”
Kirito sighed again and his shoulders fell. He replied with lowered shoulders.
“Fine...”
Wu Yan beamed widely.
“I will leave this glorious mission to you!”
Piecing the information together, Wu Yan’s behavior and Asuna’s shift of paradigm seemed strongly correlated. Something must have happened between the two of them...
Maybe...
Kirito bitterly laughed. When did he become so gossipy?
He shouldn’t speculate on the relationship between the two of them, he just needs to keep his end of the deal.
“Okay.”
Agil stored away his user interface and he turned back towards Kirito.
“I got her online, what do you want to do now? Ask her out?”
“No!
Kirito instantly turned him down.
“Just ask her one question for me!”
“Me?”
Agil pointed as his own nose.
“Are you sure it’s fine for me to know about this?”
“I already said it’s not like that!”
Kirito rolled his eyes at Agil.
“Okay, then, what do you want to ask about?”
“Ask her if she has got friends working as blacksmiths!”
“Her friends?”
“What? You’ve got a problem with that?”
“I don’t know man, it looks to me like you gave up on Asuna because you had no chance so you turned your attention towards her friend, am I wrong?”
“I said it’s not like that, didn’t I?!”