A Foreigner's Chat Group

Chapter 42: Meeting

In the 2nd Floor, knives can be seen flying on its own as they harassed the 2nd Floor mob, a small rabbit.

Its eyes glinted with a red color as it tried to rush to Shiro, but every time it is about to reach him, he suddenly dodges it by a small margin. After repeating the same spectacle for one more time, the rabbit died as it turned into blue fragments and disappeared.

Shiro cancelled his [Projection], making the knives disappear.

A status prompt appeared in front of him, informing of the Cor (this game's currency), Exp, and the items that he received upon killing it.

"It's... meat?"

One of the items that he got is [Uncooked Meat]. In the 1st floor, he killed hundreds of wolves and levelled up to 3, but all he got are some wolf fangs and wolf fur. There's a dagger as well, but its quality is much worse than his other weapons stored in the "Library of the End".

Though, he still equipped it in his waist just for emergency.

Shiro called out the Chat Group panel, only to see that it can be used in this mission--a sign that every participant had arrived. With this, he went back to Urbus, the main city on the 2nd Floor.

All in all, it looked like what a city would in the middle ages. Well, except for the fact that it's very clean and incorporates some modern designs into the city, making it look like a mix of modern and medieval ages.

As he walked on the streets, he could see people talking leisurely. Some are looking at NPC-operated stores to buy better gear, while the others discussed about trades between their in-game items. Things might look optimistic to others, but not for Shiro.

When he grinded earlier, he found out that a few months had passed since Sword Art Online was released. Right now, the frontline forces are clearing the 26th Floor. He also found out that clearing floors used to be much faster before, around 7~10 days per labyrinth cleared.

However, this changed during the 25th Floor as the usual mobbing strategy of the "Aincrad Liberation Squad", the guild that has the most Aincrad players out of there.

"We need to step up our game if things are like this. Reaching Level 35 is more imminent..." He thought as he remembered that his farming strategy won't work for others. "Attack patterns, reaction speed, and spawn rates. Efficiency it is..."

As to why it wouldn't work? During the Blank Template creation, what was brought back to the start is his basic stats, namely: Physique, Dexterity, and Mana/Aura. As for his Wisdom (Thought Processing), Luck, Control (Physical, Mental, Magic, etc), Charm, and Willpower...

They are mostly untouched, making him the one with the biggest advantage out of everyone in Aincrad right now.

*****

Ding-!

The bell attached to the door rang, indicating the arrival of a new customer. The customer looked towards one of the bigger tables in the cafe, only to see seven other players--no, Chat Group members gather.

Taking off his "Concealment Mask" and hood, Shiro greeted them.

"Yo~!"

"Shiro-aniki!"

The one that greeted him most enthusiastically is none other than Shinji.

"You're finally here..."

"Sorry, I got too carried away earlier." Shiro replied to Kal'tsit as he sat besides Romani. "Short time no see."

"Well, bonjour."

"...You've really learned how to speak in French? For the France singularity?"

"Not really, and I'm sure that they can always settle things peacefully with the back of their blade."