"Something...?"
"Secret~" Asuna blinked. "You'll find out after a while~"
"Oh, then I'll wait in eager anticipation?"
After saying that, Kiriko bade Asuna farewell.
Afterward, Asuna went to the general store.
"Hmm, let me see. To restore the flavor, I'll need this... this... this... maybe add this too..."
Asuna bought many items, but they were all tiny ingredients. However, these were things players would never buy—odds and ends for everyday chores.
That was precisely why there was no one else here.
However, just then, someone else entered the general store.
"...You're Miss Asuna, aren't you?"
Asuna was wearing a cloak, yet that person recognized her immediately.
"Hm?"
Asuna turned around and saw a white-haired man who appeared to be middle-aged standing there.
"And you are?" Asuna tilted her head, seemingly not recognizing him.
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Heathcliff. I have just established a guild called—the Knights of the Blood." The man named Heathcliff was refined and courteous.
"My apologies, but if you're here to recruit me, I don't intend to join a guild for the time being." Asuna didn't "know" him, so she had no intention of joining his guild.
But in reality, Asuna did know who this guy was.
Kayaba Akihiko's alter ego.
Unfortunately, in this world, Kayaba Akihiko no longer had GM privileges. After Kayaba Akihiko's first bout of messing around, The Lands Between had already sealed off unauthorized permissions.
So Kayaba Akihiko could only be an "ordinary person."
Originally, Asuna had not planned to "record" this part of the story. But after Kayaba... no, after Heathcliff appeared, the stage shifted the image over on its own.
Look at that, protagonist-level treatment!
"That is naturally one reason, but there are other factors as well. I have heard your name, Miss Asuna. In the battles