"Seems like Kirito joined up a bit earlier than expected...the butterfly effect in action."
Daniel wasn't certain when exactly Kirito was supposed to meet the Moonlit Black Cats and join them, but it certainly wasn't supposed to be this early in the game. They had only just reached the boss of the twentieth floor. However, Daniel quickly brushed off his concerns—his own presence had altered the story so drastically that there was no telling what would happen next.
"Guess girls really are the strongest pull. Klein would probably say Kirito's got a weakness for pretty faces if he knew."
Daniel chuckled, watching Sachi from the Moonlit Black Cats shyly stand by Kirito's side, occasionally sneaking glances at him.
Klein's guild, Fuurinkazan, had invited Kirito numerous times, but Kirito had always declined. Not just Fuurinkazan, but the top guilds like the Knights of the Blood Oath, the Holy Dragon Alliance, and the Silver Light Guild had all tried to recruit him. His skills in this deadly game made him a valuable asset, but Kirito had turned them all down.
Currently, the top ten guilds held significant sway within SAO. The Knights of the Blood Oath held the top spot, followed by the Holy Dragon Alliance. Daniel's own guild, Akatsuki, was ranked seventh—though this was largely because he had limited it to just four members. If he had actively recruited, they might have even surpassed the Knights of the Blood Oath.
Originally, Daniel had planned to build Akatsuki into a serious clearing force, even with Asuna as his chosen vice leader. He would leave the guild management in her capable hands and, with the support of his shadow clones, they would have become a major force in clearing the floors. But unfortunately, just as he was about to invite her, Kayaba, under the alias Heathcliff, invited her to join the Knights of the Blood Oath instead. Given that she had already accepted the invitation, Asuna couldn't very well go back on her word.
Daniel had a strong suspicion that Heathcliff had cheated, exploiting his authority to expedite the task required to establish a guild, allowing him to form the Knights of the Blood Oath before anyone else. And just looking at the members he recruited right from the start, all top players, it seemed likely he'd accessed player data to pinpoint the strongest candidates.
Without Asuna to manage things, Daniel decided against growing Akatsuki. While he had gained plenty of strength and knowledge during his time here, running a guild still required focus. Instead, he put his energy into other priorities, including mastering chakra manipulation and studying SAO's cutting-edge technology.
The creation of true AI life forms like Yui and Strea—albeit somewhat by accident—was proof that SAO's technology level was high. In fact, the quantum computing basis for SAO and similar technology here was arguably ahead of Marvel's world, save for Stark, who had resources most could only dream of.
In terms of raw talent, Daniel wouldn't say Kayaba was less capable than Stark. But Stark had resources, wealth, and technology at his disposal that dwarfed Kayaba's. Talent was essential, but resources were also crucial. For instance, in martial arts, even if someone like Xiao Si Ming from the Yin-Yang Clan had great potential, their cultivation required rare elixirs to reach the pinnacle at such a young age.
Daniel saw SAO as a rare opportunity to dive deep into advanced computing, an area he'd mostly explored for hacking before. With his mastery over the Operation Fruit in biochemical fields, he wanted to add electronic expertise to his skill set here.
"Watch out, Kirito. Klein will call you out for ditching him if he finds out you joined a guild for a girl. And why not join Akatsuki? You know we have no real restrictions." After greeting the Moonlit Black Cats, Daniel pulled Kirito aside with a grin.
After Asuna turned him down, Daniel had extended an invitation to Kirito as well, assuring him there'd be no obligations. While most guilds imposed some restrictions on members, especially when it came to clearing bosses, Akatsuki didn't enforce such demands. But Kirito had declined.
In SAO, joining a guild came with perks, from attribute boosts to access to items like healing crystals at discounted rates. Members even gained additional experience and skill training bonuses.
"About that..." Kirito gave a slightly embarrassed smile and explained how he ended up with the Moonlit Black Cats.
It had started when he ventured to the eleventh floor in search of a rare material and had come across the Moonlit Black Cats cornered by monsters.
In this death game, player levels varied wildly. The highest levels belonged to the front-line clearers, either as part of the major guilds or skilled solo players like Kirito. For other players, falling ten levels behind the clearers was considered decent. There were still players on the first floor who hadn't leveled up past one. The Moonlit Black Cats were a small and very weak guild, made up of just five members, all friends from the same school's club.
Early in the game, they had been terrified of venturing out of safe zones, only finding the courage to grind after the clearers had made it to the tenth floor. Even then, they moved slowly, and danger always loomed.
The full demise of the Moonlit Black Cats in the original story had often been blamed on Kirito for hiding his level, but the truth was he had saved them from death many times prior. Of course, in such a life-or-death situation, moral dilemmas were inevitable.
Having been saved by Kirito, the Black Cats were immensely grateful, and after some bonding, Kirito accepted Sachi's invitation to join them, though he continued hiding his true level.
Daniel could understand Kirito's motivation. Humans were social beings, and despite not being vilified as a "beater" this time, Kirito still felt the isolation of a solo player. Perhaps, feeling the pang of loneliness and attracted by Sachi's kindness, he'd accepted her offer.
He probably chose to hide his level to avoid standing out, given the power gap between himself and the others. What he couldn't foresee was the tragic outcome.
Under Kirito's guidance, the Black Cats leveled up and began earning more income. They had come to the twentieth floor today to celebrate a profitable grind session with a meal at a famous in-game restaurant.
The Black Cats' greatest dream was to save up 200,000 col to buy a small house for their guild—a sum that was trivial for players like Kirito or anyone in the clearing group. But for a guild as humble as the Black Cats, it was a daunting goal.
Without Kirito's help, it was likely they'd never save that amount unless they survived the game's entirety without incident.
The difference in their worlds was stark. Asuna's home in the original story cost over four million col, a sum that would take the Black Cats years to accumulate.
"It seems you're really happy with them." Daniel could tell from Kirito's expression that he genuinely enjoyed the time spent with his new guildmates.
At first, Kirito's solitary playstyle was a straightforward survival tactic. Like every other player, he bore the weight of this death game, facing immense pressure.
"Not to ruin the mood, but joining their guild may not have been the best choice for them." Daniel had little knowledge of the Black Cats' activities before meeting Kirito, but from what he could see, their confidence had swelled dangerously. That wouldn't matter in a regular game, but here, it was a death trap.
The monster spawn mechanics in SAO's labyrinth areas might be manageable for Kirito, but they were deadly for the Black Cats. In this game, even Daniel couldn't guarantee their safety if things went wrong in the labyrinth.
Kirito's face darkened as he listened to Daniel's warning. Glancing nervously at his guildmates, who were happily enjoying their meal, he whispered, "I'm not sure what you mean."
"I'm saying there's a huge power gap between you and them. While you might be able to handle mobs in regular areas, I overheard them saying they wanted to head into the labyrinth."
Labyrinth areas offered much greater rewards than regular fields—not just in gold and experience, but in treasure chests that could contain rare loot. If luck was on their side, one good chest could fulfill the Black Cats' house fund goal in an instant.
"You know how the traps work in labyrinth areas, right? If you trigger one, do you think they'll survive it with you as their tank?"
Kirito's face turned pale as he processed Daniel's words. SAO was realistic enough to simulate even tears.
"If you really want to stay with them, be honest with them. Train them in safer zones."
"I understand...thank you."
"No problem."
Kirito was a kindhearted person, even altruistic to a fault. In the original story, he suffered tremendous guilt after killing two members of Laughing Coffin, the player-killer guild. While that didn't make him wrong, it made him unreliable in team situations where lives were at stake.
In situations of life and death, the hesitation that comes from mercy could spell disaster for teammates.
Daniel didn't fault Kirito for his kindness but had avoided getting too close. With the game's events diverging drastically from the original story, their paths would likely diverge even more after SAO was cleared.
After giving Kirito his advice, Daniel left, knowing he had done all he could. Whether the Black Cats survived would now depend on Kirito's choices.
"Look, it's the Holy Dragon Alliance heading to the boss raid!" Daniel walked down the street on the twentieth floor, overhearing chatter about a group in
uniform heading out.
The Holy Dragon Alliance was the second-ranking guild and constantly sought to surpass the Knights of the Blood Oath. They aimed to outdo the Knights in number of bosses cleared, even if it meant turning orange from PvP to prevent others from beating them to the kill.
Due to their strength, other players avoided provoking them despite their tactics—they were still essential members of the clearing group.
The clearing group consisted of the game's top ten guilds, as no individual could clear bosses alone.
"Trying to beat the Knights of the Blood Oath, huh?" Daniel knew from Asuna that the Knights also planned to raid the boss soon.
"Good luck to them. Next up is floor twenty-two."
Daniel was less concerned with which guild took the boss credit; reaching the twenty-second floor was his primary goal. There, he could locate Yui and confront Heathcliff, potentially ending the game far sooner than expected. Ending SAO early would mean saving countless lives that would otherwise be lost in later battles.
"Finally, we're on the twenty-second floor."
With the twentieth-floor boss defeated and the twenty-first quickly following, Daniel entered the twenty-second floor. He immediately began searching for the small cabin in the forest. He had been saving up in preparation to buy this place; a cozy forest cabin wouldn't be as costly as Asuna's eventual lakeside villa, which had cost over four million col. A modest sum of around a few hundred thousand col should be enough.
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