The 27th Floor: Ruinbar.
Land of Eternal Night.
This place is perpetually dark, with twisted stone pillars and tangled caves forming a vast, decaying labyrinth.
"Ha, that rat actually had some use. He really came alone."
In the shadow of a dilapidated tower at the labyrinth's entrance, a man named Sasa licked his chapped lips, his voice filled with a morbid excitement, mixed with a tremor he himself didn't notice.
The "he" he spoke of was the only living legend in this world.
The god of strategy, Chen Mo.
"Our boss is brilliant. With just one rat as bait, he reeled in a dragon."
"Heh, as long as he dares to step in here, he won't be leaving alive! We, Laughing Coffin, are best at slaying dragons!"
In the shadows, several orange-name players let out low, sinister cackles. They meticulously wiped their poisoned daggers and checked scrolls imbued with paralysis effects, their eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
In their view, the meticulously laid traps were enough to bring a god to his knees.
Just then...
Buzz—
Without any warning, a pillar of light from a teleportation gate shot up from the ground. Its ethereal blue glow instantly dispelled the eternal gloom of the place, illuminating every inch of the land in a stark, pale light.
All laughter ceased abruptly.
The air was sucked out of the moment.
A figure slowly emerged from the light.
He was still wearing his simple black trench coat, his face handsome, yet lifeless.
His deep black eyes, which should have been profound, were now a pure void, like two newly born black holes, devouring all surrounding light and sound.
He didn't look at anyone.
Nor did he make any unnecessary movements.
He simply began to walk, unhurriedly, towards the depths of the labyrinth.
One step.
And another.
His footsteps were light, yet they felt like invisible heavy hammers, striking precisely at the heart of every Laughing Coffin member.
This wasn't a person.
This was a moving natural disaster.
It was the concept of "death" itself, taking on a concrete form for the first time in Aincrad.
"Stop… Stop him!"
Sasa's voice was completely distorted by fear. He forced down the tremor deep in his soul and let out a roar.
The closest heavy swordsman was the first to muster his courage.
He roared to embolden himself, gripping his greatsword with both hands. A crimson glow flared as he unleashed a furious "Waist Slash" sword skill, sweeping it horizontally towards Chen Mo's body!
He wanted to forge his own renown with this legendary death!
However...
Chen Mo didn't even glance at him.
Clang.
A faint metallic friction sound, almost drowned out by heartbeats.
It was the sound of a blade unsheathing by an inch.
The next instant...
The world was bisected by a golden cross.
That wasn't a sword skill.
It was more like a declaration.
A brilliant golden cross of light erupted around Chen Mo, like a sun that was born and annihilated in an instant.
Where the light passed, all things turned to ash.
The heavy swordsman's ferocious expression instantly froze. He felt no pain, but everything in his vision turned pure white, and then, his HP bar, representing life, was instantly emptied and evaporated by an incomprehensible force.
It wasn't just him.
His four companions behind him, along with the stone pillar they were hiding behind, silently disintegrated into basic data fragments within that cross of light.
As the golden light faded.
Chen Mo's figure still stood in place, as if he had never moved.
The sword in his hand had been sheathed at some unknown point.
He slowly raised his head, his empty eyes piercing through layers of shadow, accurately locking onto the figure that had been observing from the deepest part of the labyrinth.
PoH.
"Five."
Chen Mo spoke.
His voice was flat, devoid of anger or killing intent, yet it caused the temperature of the entire Ruinbar labyrinth area to plummet.
He seemed to be talking to himself, and yet he was pronouncing judgment on the entire Laughing Coffin.
"Where is she?"
This was not a question.
It was a demon's ultimatum.
In the depths of the labyrinth, there was a deathly silence.
Sasa went mad.
The instant evaporation of his companions completely destroyed his pitiful sanity.
"Kill him! Avenge our brothers!!"
He let out an inhuman shriek. His speed as a rapier user erupted to its peak at that moment, turning him into an afterimage, thrusting directly at Chen Mo's throat.
The remaining members behind him were also infected by this madness, rushing forward with bloodshot eyes.
Facing the encirclement, Chen Mo's steps remained perfectly steady.
He simply took one step to the side.
It was this single step that caused all their attacks to miss simultaneously.
Time seemed to stretch.
Chen Mo's figure moved between the gaps of several attacks, his sword sheath accurately tapping a thief's wrist.
Crack!
The system sound of bone shattering rang out.
At the same time, he drew his sword with his left hand and re-sheathed it.
A deep red sword glow flashed across the neck of another sword-and-shield user.
"Pfft..."
The man didn't even have time to raise his shield before clutching his neck, watching in disbelief as his HP bar dropped to zero and he dissolved into countless specks of light.
"Six."
Chen Mo calmly stated the number, his gaze sweeping over the now ashen-faced Sasa.
In his eyes, these people weren't players, they weren't lives.
They were just obstacles that needed to be cleared before he found Argo.
They were trash.
"Monster... You're a monster!!" Sasa completely broke down. He turned to flee.
But it was already too late.
Chen Mo's figure appeared before him like a ghost.
No sword skill, no light effects.
Just a simple straight thrust.
It was so fast that Sasa's dynamic vision couldn't even catch it.
"Seven."
Chen Mo walked through Sasa's disintegrating data fragments, not even a speck touching his coat hem.
He didn't even bother to finish off the terrified, scattered small fry.
His senses had already locked onto the most concentrated malice deep within the labyrinth.
And a faint trace of her presence.
"Argo."
He whispered, his figure transforming into a black lightning bolt, streaking towards the depths of the labyrinth.
Just then...
A whooshing sound came from the shadows above!
It was a monstrously shaped giant cleaver, spinning with an aura that could sever anything, aimed directly at Chen Mo's head.
Chen Mo didn't stop, merely tilting his body slightly.
Sizzle—
The cleaver grazed his cheek, taking away a tiny, almost negligible sliver of HP, and deeply embedded itself in the distant stone wall, its handle still humming.
Chen Mo's figure stopped ten meters ahead and slowly turned.
He looked up at the darkness from which the weapon had been thrown.
A man in a black cloak, his face obscured by a hood, stood silently there, like a night owl merged with the darkness.
"Good afternoon, sir."
The man let out a low, hoarse laugh, with a playful, sickening tone.
"A pleasure to meet you."
"I am PoH."