A large amount of white light burst forth, entering Keli's body, who was closer, and some flowed towards Kirito.
Delicious!
Even more delicious than those Deep Ones who were merely salmon with soy sauce!
Like perfectly prepared foie gras, devoid of any fishiness, served on a bed of roasted salmon marinated in tomato ketchup, the cherry jelly garnish balanced the slight richness while adding a refreshing sweetness to the entire dish.
They closed their eyes, savoring the richness, and after a while, they came back to their senses due to footsteps.
The arrival, however, greatly surprised Kirito.
It was Asuna, the blonde girl holding what appeared to be a rapier, possibly a decorative piece from the resort, and an anti-riot shield, looking somewhat dazed at Kirito, who was propped up by two curved swords.
"Kirito-kun...!"
The girl cried out, somewhat disbelievingly.
However, what followed was the distant wail of police sirens. As if by some talent, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department always arrived when the main trouble was resolved but everyone hadn't yet had time to deal with the aftermath.
But Keli wouldn't forget to deal with a certain aftermath.
Following the last lingering scent in the resort, Keli found the woman whom Kazuma had kicked in the face, who was in a room, constantly praying to a statue covered with a red cloth.
"Great dagon, Lord of the Ocean... You! What are you doing?!"
...
Half an hour later, by the stream, Keli, Kirito, and Kazuma sat together.
Asuna was asked to wait a little further away.
"I see, I understand."
Kazuma, for some psychological reason, explained their general situation to Kirito.
"I see, this was truly a close call, and thank you all as well."
Kirito scratched his head.
"I owe my survival to you all. Resurrection of the dead, this world actually has so many mysterious things.
Oh, do you have phones? Let's exchange contact information. If we encounter an enemy we can't defeat in the future, I will definitely come to support you!"
The young man spoke, his eyes sparkling.
If a middle-aged person learned that the world contained various hidden mysteries and supernatural phenomena, they would surely feel distressed and fearful.
After all, no one wants their hard-earned small family, barely sustained by their tireless work, to suddenly collapse due to such unexpected events, or even for their house, bought with a 30-year mortgage, to be destroyed by some mysterious incident—that would absolutely drive them to despair.
But for someone of high school age, these things are just right. Roughly from the end of their most emotional middle school period, having passed through the stage in life where they realize their parents are ordinary and they themselves are ordinary, they are beginning to prepare to accept the difficulties of life.
At this time, discovering these hidden aspects behind the city, the 'other side' of the world, is enough to make one too excited to sleep, let alone when such a miracle truly happens to oneself.
Looking at Kirito's sparkling eyes, Kazuma finally couldn't hold back his laughter and stepped forward to pat his shoulder.
"I say, have you misunderstood something?"
"Huh?"
Pulled back to reality from his yearning for the unknown world, Kirito looked at Kazuma somewhat strangely.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
Looking at Kazuma's smile, he felt an ominous premonition, because he seemed to have seen the same expression on a mischievous friend who used to call him "Kirito-sama."
And that expression meant: schadenfreude!
Looking at the other party's strange expression, Kirigaya Kazuto suddenly felt a tightening in his rear and cold sweat uncontrollably pouring out. Looking at this guy who was smiling at him, he seemed even more terrifying and frightening than ten of those swollen monsters from before!
Wh-what are you doing?
Kazuma looked at Kirito with a gaze of barely concealed joyous pity and shook his head.
"Actually, there was one more thing I didn't mention just now."
"Wh-what?"
Kirito couldn't help but swallow.
"Speaking of which, the hunger I just mentioned, you said you felt it too, right?"
Kazuma's face began to lose its ability to hold back a smile, gradually becoming more rampant.
"Wh-what's wrong? Didn't you say this was the price for our resurrection?"
"Yes, but I forgot to tell you, that hunger won't disappear just because you won't die."
Upon hearing this, Kirito was struck as if by lightning.
Although he felt a bad premonition, Kirito still tentatively asked: "Th-then, how long will this hunger last?"
"A lifetime, actually."
Kazuma's lips were almost stretched to his ears as he spoke the cruel truth.
If you want to bring a glimmer of happiness to an otaku who can't go home, has to endure pain on the brink of death every day, constantly saving and killing people, living a life worse than an Africa mercenary, far away from his computer.
Then, of course, it's a damned normie with a beautiful girlfriend who can also bring his girlfriend to such a luxurious resort. He must live the same life as me.
"A lifetime?!"
Kirito, catching the keyword, felt his pupils earthquake, like a spaceship about to be caught by the gravity of a black hole, wanting to escape but already impossible.
"That's right, you damned normie, you wouldn't want to die and come back to life, tormented by that hunger, just because you have nothing to eat, would you?
Just use this incident as an excuse to break up with your girlfriend and stop harming others. Also, while you still have the chance, call your family, after all, this is the price of being resurrected~
You'll be immortal like us for life!
Oh, and we really welcome newcomers, but it seems we don't have an organization name yet. Keli, do you want to come up with a name?"
"Farron Undead Legion?"
Keli chimed in.
"No, how about 'Devil May Cry'? Perfect, now that there are three of us, we can even switch codenames. From now on, I'll be Vergil, you'll be Dante, and this annoying normie will be Nero."
Kazuma laughed and patted Kirito's shoulder again.
"You bastard, do you think I haven't played Devil May Cry? If anyone's going to be Vergil, it's me!"
Kirito, somewhat overwhelmed by the intense influx of information, didn't care that he wasn't very familiar with these two and directly retorted Kazuma.
In Devil May Cry, Vergil is Nero's father.
"What? You normies shouldn't even be playing games, alright?"
Kazuma said with a look of disdain.
"Damn it! I told you, I'm not a normie anymore!"
Kirito tried to shake off Kazuma's hand, but Kazuma had more experience in grappling, so Kirito couldn't resist at all. Thus, like high school boys, the two grappled and rolled on the grass.
"I was a beta tester for SAO before! I play everything from various collectible card games and tabletop games to online and single-player games!"
"Damn it! Those multiplayer online dungeon-crawling games are just platforms for normies to fall in love, aren't they? Don't lump those games in with our single-player games!"
Asuna, across the riverbank, watched from afar. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she was completely bewildered as to why Kirito-kun suddenly started arguing with that person.
But it didn't look like a fight; it felt more like when girls have a pillow fight.
Eventually, the two combatants reached a historic reconciliation, and Kirito decided to follow these two during his vacation.
Because they both discovered that the other was a Yuzu fan.
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