Since Kirito joined the Moonlit Black Cats, the gloominess and shut-in air on his face had lessened quite a bit, and his whole demeanor had brightened up.
His daily task now was to lead the Moonlit Black Cats in hunting monsters between the 11th and 20th floors, while personally coaching Sachi on how to play as a shield-bearing swordsman… of course, he didn't hold back from teaching the others as well, just not with the same level of detail he gave Sachi.
While steadily leading the Moonlit Black Cats to level up, Kirito didn't neglect his own progress either.
Every night, after his guildmates went to rest, he would go to the frontlines alone to train — he even ran into Akimi's group several times.
As for concrete results, over the course of a month, the Moonlit Black Cats' members had all reached around level 22 or 23, while Kirito — even without participating in recent boss fights — had grinded his way straight up to level 48.
Over that month together, Kirito had gradually blended into the Moonlit Black Cats, and when chatting with Keita and the others, he was no longer as stiff and reserved.
Although Akimi and Asuna hadn't joined the Moonlit Black Cats, they would still hang out with them whenever they had free time.
On the afternoon of May 9, after spending most of the day leading the Moonlit Black Cats in training, Kirito returned inside the safe zone with Keita and the others, then lay down on the lawn in the town's greenbelt, looking a bit tired — after all, leading a group by day and solo grinding by night was exhausting.
Just then, Keita strolled over holding a newspaper in his hand, sat down heavily beside Kirito, and unfolded the paper.
The headline read: "The Clearing Group Cleared the 28th Floor on May 7, Once Again with Zero Casualties!"
It even included a section noting that, with the cooperation of the rising guild Furinkazan, Akimi had successfully snatched the LA.
Looking at the information on the paper, Keita scratched his head and gazed up at the sky, as if deep in thought.
Kirito didn't say anything either, just lying there staring into space.
"Mr. Akimi and his group are really amazing, huh? To be able to take the LA from all those top players in the Clearing group…"
Keita said in a tone that was half talking to himself.
Then he added, "By the way… Kirito, what's the difference between us and the Clearing group?"
Still lost in thought, Kirito didn't react for several seconds.
It wasn't until Keita gave him a light nudge that he came back to his senses.
"Ah, sorry, Keita, what did you just say?"
Keita repeated the question.
Kirito rubbed his chin and, after thinking for a bit, replied with a slightly uncertain tone, "Hmm… if I really had to say, it's probably the amount of information and the level… maybe also skill? Their average level is higher, which lets them occupy more efficient grinding areas. Because of the Matthew Effect, the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker. Players in the Clearing group are generally about ten levels above the current floor's number."
But Keita shook his head and said, "While that's part of the reason… I think the real difference is willpower."
Kirito blinked in surprise at his words, then murmured in puzzlement, "Will… power?"
"Yeah! Willpower. That desire to protect your comrades — even to protect all the players. I think the members of the Clearing group are able to be stronger than us because they have incredibly strong wills."
Keita gazed toward the distant labyrinth tower as he spoke slowly.
Kirito lowered his head, mulling over Keita's words, but Keita continued, "Even though right now we're still the ones being protected, I believe that in terms of willpower, we're not inferior… One day, we'll join the Clearing group too, and fight to protect everyone."
"I… see…" Kirito's eyelids slowly drooped, and he didn't argue —
But deep down, he didn't think Keita's words were entirely correct.
The way the Clearing group was made up now… wasn't all that noble.
At least, the people from the DDA had already begun resorting to any means necessary in the name of clearing floors.
Still, Kirito didn't point that out.
Instead, he thought quietly to himself: If the Moonlit Black Cats could join the Clearing group, maybe we really could change the closed-off atmosphere it has now.
After the two finished their conversation, Sachi, Ducker, Tetsuo, and Sasamaru suddenly rushed over to Kirito and, without giving him a choice, dragged him away, leaving Keita alone.
When Keita tried to follow, Ducker grinned and blocked his path.
"Ahem, boss, we've got something to discuss with Kirito, so you just stay here, okay?"
And with that, he dashed off, leaving Keita behind.
Keita: "?"
Dragged into a narrow alley, Kirito looked blankly at the three of them, not knowing what they were up to — though he didn't rush them, simply waiting calmly for them to explain.
Once Ducker caught up to them, Tetsuo grinned and said, "Don't worry, Kirito, it's nothing big… We just want to tell you something."
Ducker picked up the thread: "The day after tomorrow is the boss's birthday, and we want to give him a surprise. So we're asking you to help us figure out how to do it."
But the straightforward, clueless Kirito had no experience planning surprises, so he said with a troubled look, "But… I don't know how to do that either…"
Seeing Sachi's expression slowly fall, Kirito asked cautiously, "How about… I ask Akimi to help us come up with something? He's got a lot of crazy ideas — he's bound to know what to do."
That suggestion made Sachi and the others' eyes light up, and they nodded quickly.
Kirito chuckled, then opened his message panel and sent: "You there? Need something from you."
It didn't take long for Akimi to reply: "I won't help with big problems, and I don't feel like helping with small ones either… but you can still tell me, and I'll decide if it's worth laughing at you for."
The moment Kirito saw that message, his face darkened — you're seriously annoying.
But soon Akimi followed up: "Ahem, just kidding. Go on, what is it?"
Kirito explained the situation from start to finish, then asked if Akimi could help design the plan.
After Akimi, Kirito, and the others had a thorough discussion, Akimi made the same careful suggestion Kirito had earlier: "How about… I ask Asuna to help us come up with something?"
Having already endured plenty of half-baked ideas from Akimi, the five of them nodded without hesitation.
And so, under Asuna's utterly baffled gaze, Akimi dragged her over to meet up with Kirito and the rest.
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