Time passed quickly, and without realizing it, a month had gone by since the Laughing Coffin incident.
Whenever the Raid Team discovered a Boss Room, Charlie would use illusions to make the Raid Team leader unwittingly transfer the Boss Room map coordinates to Asuna.
After obtaining the coordinates, Charlie would secretly enter the Boss Room and defeat the Floor Boss in under five seconds. When the Raid Team arrived the next day, the Boss Room was empty, leaving only confusion and frustration.
This routine repeated so often that the Raid Team grew numb, their resentment toward beta testers deepening for monopolizing Floor Bosses.
Meanwhile, the beta testers, scapegoated for Charlie's actions, were clueless about his antics and could only hide their status to avoid being ostracized and hated by the player community.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Now, Charlie and Asuna were on Floor 10 of Aincrad, designed to resemble a traditional Edo-period Japanese town, previously known as the Twilight Palace. It was also the last floor reached during Sword Art Online's beta test and the first interactive safe zone since Floor 1.
Players could find enthusiastic NPCs, purchase unique consumables for this floor, and undertake various quests, including those requiring tableware retrieval.
"Oh, are you a wanderer? We're in trouble with the growing number of White Guard Dogs lately."
An elderly NPC in a farmer's robe spoke to Asuna.
Instantly, a quest pop-up appeared, and Asuna accepted it in high spirits.
Turning, she hurried toward the White Guard Dogs' location, ready for action.
*JIIII—*
Asuna stopped in her tracks. She felt a sharp gaze piercing her from behind.
"Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Is it just me, or do you seem happier than usual? What's going on?"
"I'm not telling you."
"Oh."
Charlie shrugged. Since Asuna didn't want to share, there was no need to press further.
Wherever they went, players on Floor 10 would glance at Asuna.
Female players were already rare in the game, and beautiful ones even rarer!
Naturally, players instinctively stole glances at Asuna as she passed, as if drawn by a magnet.
It's human nature to admire beautiful things, and Asuna clearly fit that category.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Meanwhile.
Kirito followed an NPC guiding him to the Sunset Bamboo Forest.
Mid-journey, an incident occurred.
*WHOOSH!*
From the NPC's shadow, a female figure suddenly emerged—the same Abyssal Devourer, Assassin Type. She attacked Kirito without warning.
Having survived several assassination attempts, Kirito was no longer caught off guard. His nerves were always on edge, bordering on paranoia.
Thus, Kirito swiftly drew his sword, Anneal Blade flashing.
*CLANG!*
With quick reflexes, he parried a black dagger aimed at his heart, the sharp clang of metal echoing among the swaying bamboo.
"Who are you? Why are you trying to kill me?"
Kirito voiced his frustration, his tone brimming with exasperation.
"…"
Unfortunately, the Abyssal Devourer had no interest in chatting with her prey.
*WHOOSH!*
Without a word, she attacked again, her movements like a flickering shadow, her black dagger dancing in the air. She had to act fast before the 'Savior'—who somehow always appeared to protect Kirito—showed up.
*CLANG!* *CLING!* *CLANG!* *CLING!*
(What is this? Why do I have to go through this? Is this karma for abandoning Klein?)
Kirito grumbled inwardly, deep frustration coloring his thoughts. He parried and dodged nimbly, matching each deadly strike from the Abyssal Devourer.
Not only was he constantly hindered by Miguel, who inexplicably kept slowing his progress, but now he faced a far more dangerous issue: an unknown entity out for his life.
It was an absurd mess to him.
*CLANG!* *CLING!* *CLANG!* *CLING!*
Despite Kirito's real-world kendo training, which gave him a swordsmanship edge in SAO, he was on the losing side.
Against the Abyssal Devourer, Kirito could only parry, dodge, and occasionally counter, but each move merely delayed his HP bar's decline. He couldn't defeat her.
Within a minute of the fight starting, Kirito's HP bar dropped into the red zone.
The Abyssal Devourer's black dagger kept stabbing, slashing, finding gaps, as if every move was perfectly calculated.
(Where's that bastard? Why hasn't he shown up? What's he doing right now?)
The bastard was Miguel.
No matter how annoying Miguel was, Kirito knew the man always appeared to protect him from this mysterious woman's assassination attempts.
His heart couldn't help but grow anxious, increasingly worried as Miguel hadn't appeared while he was on the brink of death.
"…"
With Kirito's HP critically low and the Savior still absent, the Abyssal Devourer's eyes gleamed with eerie excitement.
*SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!* *SWOOSH!*
She intensified her assault, her dagger dancing faster, targeting the final gaps in Kirito's defense.
"Die!"
She thrust her dagger in a finishing move.
*CREAK!*
But at that critical moment, a spatial anomaly occurred. The space behind the Abyssal Devourer rippled, forming a circular portal. From within, Miguel emerged, sword already drawn.
*SWOOSH!*
Without warning or wasted motion, Miguel shot out of the portal, his sword thrusting straight at the Abyssal Devourer's head.
The attack was so swift and precise that she had no time to react.
*PU-CHI!*
Her dagger, inches from Kirito's throat, froze in midair, and her body vanished instantly.
"Haaa… Haaa… Haaa…"
Kirito panted, leaning on his sword planted in the ground. Cold sweat soaked his forehead. The Abyssal Devourer's dagger had been mere inches from his throat, a reminder of how close he'd come to death.
"Bastard! You used me as bait!"
Kirito gritted his teeth, glaring at Miguel with a mix of dissatisfaction and suppressed anger.
How could he not realize why Miguel didn't appear immediately after the Abyssal Devourer attacked?
Clearly, he'd been deliberately left on the verge of death to make the Abyssal Devourer lower her guard.
"Hmph."
Miguel snorted in disdain, ignoring Kirito's complaints. He had no intention of bonding, so no need to explain. His job was to protect, not to build rapport.
At that moment, he received information from the world's consciousness. He had only 12 hours left in this world before being automatically expelled.
"12 hours, huh… Let's use the remaining time to relax before returning." Miguel muttered to himself.
Having completed his annoying babysitting task, Miguel turned and walked back into the still-open spatial portal, not sparing Kirito a glance despite his annoyed glare.
The portal vanished with him.