SAO's First-Ever Party!...

As the hand atop her head gently stroked her, Asuna quietly lowered her head. Her previously complicated feelings miraculously began to settle beneath that seemingly magical touch...

"Sometimes, I really envy you..." Asuna said wistfully. "You can freely live the life you want, enjoy life to the fullest, possess strength that rivals the entire Assault Team, and never have to worry about the clearing efforts. Perhaps there isn't anyone happier than you in all of Sword Art Online..."

"That's only because you people don't know how to enjoy yourselves..." Wu Yan sighed, speaking with a hint of displeasure. "And if those damn Floor Boss rooms weren't so hard to find, why would I let the Assault Team get ahead of me?"

Asuna burst out laughing, then quickly sighed. "Someone in the Assault Team once suggested that, in order to clear all of Sword Art Online as soon as possible, everyone in the Assault Team should devote all their efforts to searching for Floor Boss rooms, then provide you with the information!"

"Oh?" Wu Yan's hand paused atop Asuna's head. "What happened after that? Why did it fall through?"

"Because of the risks!" Asuna said to Wu Yan. "This method might allow us to quickly clear all of Aincrad, but that would depend on you always having the ability to defeat Floor Bosses alone. And in the Assault Team... almost no one was willing to believe that you could keep defeating Floor Bosses by yourself!"

The monsters in Aincrad grew stronger and higher-leveled as the floors increased. After Floor 70, the pressure those monsters placed on players had become extraordinary!

And nearly every player knew that every twenty-five floors in Aincrad marked a dividing line. After Floor 25, the difficulty of clearing the game rose dramatically. Things were already this difficult