Go Into the Muck 76

Chapter 76 – Sword Art Online (44)

“Hmm.”

Seojun opened his eyes.
Seeing that the surroundings were still dark, it seemed to be night. He closed his eyes to sleep again, but he couldn’t sleep, so he got up.

I opened the window and looked at the time, and it was pointing to 2:00 AM.
Seo-jun slowly turned his head and scanned the inside of the tent. Kismel’s appearance was nowhere to be seen. He seemed to know roughly where she might be.

Because I saw this scene in the original.

Seojun got up from his seat to find Kismel.
After passing through the partition at the entrance and going out of the tent, the campfire was almost completely extinguished at some point, and the campsite was sunk in the bluish moonlight. I looked around, but nothing was moving except two sentries patrolling along the edge of the camp.

Seo-jun headed to an area he had never been to before in the dark elf camp.
Further back than the innermost commander’s tent.

The moonlight in Aincrad was quite clear if the sky was open, so it was not difficult to walk even without lighting. Unless, of course, the moon itself is not visible outside the outer edges, and the light only bounces off the floor of the upper floor.

Bubbly.

Pass the marquee to the east and the space behind comes into view.
At that moment, Seo-joon stopped walking. A small meadow with only one small tree… There was a simple yet beautiful tombstone carved out of wood.

And right next to that tombstone.
There, Kismel was sitting still, wearing only a tunic and tights. She had her head slightly lowered, looking down at her tombstone.

“… It was Jun. If you don’t rest well, tomorrow will be hard.”

Kismel, who recognized Seo-jun’s approach by the sound of footsteps, looked at him and whispered.
At that, Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.

“I slept better than usual, probably because the bed was good.”
“Is it… That’s good.”

After answering, she turned her head back to her grave.
Seo-joon went a little closer and looked at the tombstone. [Tilnel] Was engraved in small letters on the surface of the freshly made white wood.

“Tilnel… ?”

Trying to pronounce it with his mouth, it was quite difficult.
It was similar to how Kismel had a hard time pronouncing their names on the first day.

“I am a twin sister. She lost her life last month in the first battle since she came to this tier.”

As the word ‘come to this layer’ suggests, the Dark Elves and their enemy, the Forest Elves, must know that the floating castle Aincrad has countless multi-layered structures.

In addition, with his own magic, he should be able to move between floors without using the round-trip stairs in the labyrinth area or the teleport gate in the residential area. Of course, it seems that the range of movement is limited from this third floor to the ninth floor where the castle is located.

I had cleared this campaign quest during the beta, so I had that much knowledge.
Anyway, Seojun asked her about her sister to have a conversation with her.

“Was Mr. Tilnel a knight too?”
“No. Her sister was a pharmacist. It was my job to heal the wounded on the battlefield, and I’ve never heard of a sword bigger than a dagger. However, the Forest Elf falconers did not surprise her rearguard where her sister was…”

The moment he heard those words, Seo-joon smiled bitterly.
Forest Elf Falconer, proper name 《Forest Elven Falconer》, is the most annoying monster on the 3rd floor, excluding bosses and event mobs.

The dark elves also have a corresponding wolf hunter, the Dark Elven Wolf Handler, but falconers who attack from the ground and the sky at the same time are much more annoying.

‘Of course, this is also the original story.’

Now that there is a long-distance tool called the bow.
A flying falcon was a perfect target for the player. Assuming, of course, that it fits well.

While Seo-jun was thinking for a while, Kizmel softened his stiff side face a little and said.

“Don’t stand forever, but sit down. There are no chairs or rugs.”
“Oh, then excuse me.”

Seo-joon sat down beside her.
The temporary graveyard was densely covered with soft grass, so it didn’t feel bad.
As he sat by her side, Kismel lifted the leather sack he had kept by her side, pulled the stopper off her, and took a sip. And then you give it to him as it is.

“Thank you.”

As Seo-jun picked up the leather bag and tilted it at the corner of his mouth, a slightly thick liquid flowed out. His taste was slightly sour-sweet, and as he passed it down his throat, the strong spirit of alcohol burned his throat and left a refreshing aftertaste.

When Seojun returned the leather bag, Kizmel took it and sprayed it on her tombstone.

“It’s the moon lucho (月 淚 草) that her sister likes very much. I secretly brought it from the castle to surprise you… In the end, I couldn’t even feed him a sip…”

An empty leather bag lands on the grass and makes a small noise. Kizmel brought her knees together and hugged her tightly.

“… Yesterday, when I applied for the key recovery mission, I was prepared for death. No, he might have been wishing for death. In fact, against that forest elf, at best we would have died together or been defeated. But fate has led you to my death. I thought that no god would exist in this world anymore…”

Kismel muttered that and glanced at Seo-jun.
Realizing that his onyx-colored eyes were slightly wet, Seo-jun opened his mouth.

“It is not divine guidance. My friends and I went there of our own volition. So we will be together until the end. Until Kismel returns home safely.”
“… Thank you.”

Kizmel smiled slightly and nodded her head.
She said and then she said.

“Then I will protect you too. Until the road parted.”

***

The day was bright.
Seo-Jun and his party set out at the camp to do a quest with Kismel.
The current time is 7 am.
Crossing the early morning air, Seo-jun and his party strode forward.

Following 《The Secret Jade Key》, the title of the quest received from the commander is 《Subjugating the Tarantula》.
The message was that a toxic spider-type monster had occurred abnormally in the forest and was interfering with the unit’s mission.

Detoxification potions were always stocked up, so they proceeded with the quest without any hesitation.
Of course, I didn’t forget to rob the place where the key item of the quest that can be received in the village is located, so that Kibao can’t miss it.

After clearing the quest like that, they returned to the camp again.
The commander of the Dark Elf Advancement Corps expressed his gratitude by receiving a quest item, an insignia shaped like a leaf. The quest was completed like that, and the linked quest to catch the queen spider appeared.
I was able to break it right away because I had already caught it and kept its fangs.

“Good work.”

Listening to the commander’s words, Seo-jun and his party left the tent.
Now Kizmel can invite them to their party, but she postponed it to a later date because she thought it would be better for her to be left alone.

And welcomed free time.
After the girls dispersed, Seo-jun, who was left alone, murmured.

“End of life.”

***

[Settlement begins.]
[Original Intervention + 3,000 OP]
[Original transformation + 2,000 OP]
…

After confirming the settlement, Seo-jun nodded and removed the window.

‘Let’s take a short break before doing the quest properly.’

Seo-joon, who was lying on the bed, opened Chewdeok Life and checked the work.
He became very interested in swordsmanship while enjoying Sword Art Online. He wasn’t originally this far, but he got noticed while making OSS.

So I thought it would be good to learn a new swordsmanship for the next work.

“As expected, if you do swordsmanship, that’s it.”

Seo-joon continued to draw works.
Thus, we were able to secure the two works we wanted.
They are 〈 Demonic Blade 〉 and 〈 Blade of Wind 〉.

The blade of the ghost was a recently emerging powerhouse in the world of fencing with various fantasy effects added, and the spirit of the wind was the very essence. Even if you don’t know much about the work called Swordsman of the Wind, there are probably people who have heard of the sword technique called 〈 〉.

After thinking for a while, Seo-joon made a decision.
He quickly moved on to his next piece.