NOVEL NEXT 61. Found the Protagonist.
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[December 2, 2022 (world time) - First Floor: Tolbana]
It has been exactly one month since the death game has begun. Kaito's group still hasn't found the protagonist at all even though they literally traveled anywhere, which makes Kaito's plans fall apart. Right now, his only hope of meeting the protagonist is to attend a meeting to defeat the first-floor boss in Tolbana as according to the original plot he would attend this meeting. For that reason, Kaito and his group already waiting at the meeting location much earlier than it was scheduled since he was afraid of missing the protagonist.
(A/N: I am not sure what is this place called in English, I am sorry lol)
"Kaito, Are you sure the person you are seeking is going to show up at this meeting?" Lisbeth asked in boredom, considering they have been sitting on here for a while.
"Err... It shouldn't be long before he came. The meeting would start in 30 minutes anyway" Kaito vaguely replied, not really confident to say it 100%.
He knew the chat group members already made a lot of changes to this world in under one month, and god knows if the plot would still stay the same. For example, in the original, there should be 2000 deaths after one month but thanks to the third chat group member's effort led by Aika to save more players, there is only less than 1000 death that happened instead.
The second group also made a clear impact, as Erina and Arato's dishes begin quickly become popular-- the overall populace of players become happier since what the Erina group did was to make them realize this world wasn't that much different from the real world. Because of them, a lot of players begin to pay attention to non-combat skills, making a lot of non-combat focus guilds in the future.
Only the first group, the intelligent gathering group doesn't seem to do anything, only on the surface. Beneath it, the Crocodile group actually has been hunting any evil players that targetting weak players, making them the group who did the most impact on the future plot.
Meanwhile, Kaito's group is well known for its monopoly for quests or monster fields wherever they come. Their reputation isn't exactly great, but no one really dares to oppose them except for a very small amount of players. Thanks to their monopoly practice, it wasn't a secret they are currently the holders of the highest-level player in the world. They also become the center of attention wherever they go, including here.
...
"Wow, the infamous Kaito party is here." (Player A)
"I don't like them but this raid would have a higher success rate with their presence." (Player B)
"Indeed. They are very strong. I wouldn't be surprised if they were able to defeat the boss on their own" (Player C)
"Damn, a party full of good-looking people and also very strong. Why it's so unfair?!" (Player D)
"Not to mention there is only one guy in that party. I am really envious of him!" (Player E)
"Well, that's the leader of the party. Watch out for your words! One guy on the other day got absolutely demolished by him in PvP." (Player A)
"Y-Yeah, I know. I am not that stupid to get myself killed." (Player E)
...
While looking for the protagonist, Kaito obviously also listened to the comment of players surrounding them. Usually, he pretty much ignored their comments, but the last comments made him curious about something.
"These players' comments... Do I look that scary in other people's eyes?"
Hearing his question, the girls shook their heads together and unanimously answered the same.
"Obviously." (Sakuya)
"Yes." (Akitsu)
"Indeed." (Miya)
"You... really lack self-awareness, huh?" Lisbeth scoffed and then continue to explain, "Just the other day you literally beat more than 10 players in a row that challenged you without getting hit."
"Huh? I mean compared to Miya-san, their swords play rather clumsy at best."
"Well, you are not wrong, Kaito. I swear every member of this party really good at combat, except for me."
"Don't worry, Lis. You could always ask Miya-san to train your combat skill with me."
Even in this world, Kaito still regularly asked Miya to train him-- and got beaten every time. Nevertheless, it's not something he regrets, as Kaito is always aware he needs to get as strong as possible to survive in this world.
"Err... No, thank you. I am not a masochist like you." Lisbeth quickly refused, knowing how insane their training usually is.
"I think it would be soon that I have nothing to teach you, Kaito-san " Miya added.
"I honestly doubt that, but thanks for your reassuring words" Kaito wryly replied which made everyone around him chuckle.
"No, I am serious about what I said." Miya concurred.
"I know" Kaito nodded and then smiled, "Hopefully, it would be enough to please Est later."
Hearing a new name, Lisbeth can't help but ask, "Who is Est?"
Sakuya quickly replied before Kaito was able to answer, "Master favorite girl. There is no other girl that has spent more time than her with master"
"Ehhh... So, you really have a lot of girls in your harem" Lisbeth said with a flat tone, which made Kaito feel wronged.
He wanted to retort back, but he know the girls would gang on him if he did. After all, they didn't wrong about that statement since Est is his equipment, she must with him almost all the time. Sadly, due to group task restrictions-- Est can't join him in the SAO world since she is technical equipment, and also not a group member. This made him miss her a lot, as Kaito loved to play with her hair every time.
"I think you are forgetting Sakuya-san, there is also Ravel-chan." Miya added with a teasing tone.
"Ravel-chan? Who is it?"
"Stopp!!"
Kaito tried his best to stop the girls from talking about this, but Kaito's actions made them do it even more in order to tease their master. Realizing there is no way the girls would stop, Kaito couldn't help but listen to what they had to say.
Luckily, the girls didn't know much about Ravel other than what Kaito had told them, so the topic ended pretty quickly. Not that Lisbeth impression of him getting any better though.
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When Kaito's group was having fun with each other, he didn't realize that the time was getting closer to the meeting time. The closer time to the start of the meeting, the more people seem coming, including some of the chat group members that seem to attend this meeting
As Kaito begin to scan his surrounding, he found Asuna and Yuu sitting closely with Aika and Mikoto talking to each other like them. Unlike the original, none of the girls seems to hide their appearance from the public, which made them also become the center of attention since they come here. Kaito didn't take initiative to approach nor did they want to do the same, as they don't have reason to do so. After all, they could always talk about it in the chat group anyway if they wanted to.
As Kaito still wondering where is the protagonist, Sakuya who noticed their target first immediately points out, "Master... There it is"
Hearing Sakuya, Kaito quickly look in the direction where she pointed out and found a black-haired guy with a serious looking sitting alone not far away from them. Confirming that 100% is the protagonist, Kaito sighed in relief and quickly plan in his head how they need to approach him.
"Master, what we should do?" Sakuya asked.
"Kaito, is that the person you are looking for? that gloomy guy?" Lisbeth whispered.
"For now, my plan is simple. We know after this meeting every player needs to form a party together, we will ask him to join us." Kaito muttered in low voice, afraid what he said to be heard by Kirito.
Since Asuna already got chummy with Yuu, Aika, and Mikoto in this world, there is no way Kirito would team up with her like in the original. That would leave the protagonist alone with no one to team up with, and Kaito uses that for their advantage.
"Okay, Kaito-san." (Miya)
"Yes, master." (Akitsu)
"I will keep my eyes on him, master." (Sakuya)
"Wait, how do you know that will happen?" Lisbeth asked with a confused tone.
Unlike the other girls, she doesn't know the content of the memories thus making her clueless about what Kaito talking about.
"It's another secret. You will know our reason in the future, but for now please just follow us." Kaito answered, knowing there is no use to explain to her now. He is going to invite Lisbeth later to the group, but only after everyone already in the chat group agrees with it. Kaito doesn't want to be seen as abusing his power in the chat group after all.
"Ehh... Another one? I wonder what kind of secret you all have been hiding from me. It has been a month, you know?" Lisbeth said in a curious tone.
Kaito shook his head and answered in an apologetic tone, "I am sorry, but I promise you would understand very soon."
*Sigh*
"Well... I hope you would tell me soon, Kaito." Lisbeth said with a resigned tone, knowing there is no use to push furthermore. It's not the first time they have had this kind of conversation, and she learns how stubborn Kaito is in avoiding the topic.
...
After successfully convincing Lisbeth to believe him, Kaito also talks to the girls to avoid the limelight as much as possible to make sure nothing changed with the result of this meeting.
Not that it would matter, as they would be dragged soon by other players. He forgets that they're literally celebrities in this place.
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