Aincrad, twenty-seventh floor, Lombard.
The members of the Moonlit Black Cats were already fully equipped and ready to go, having waited at the Teleportation Gate for quite some time.
Sasamaru, the party's thief, checked the time, then turned to Sachi beside him. Wearing light-blue clothes and armor, with shoulder-length dark-blue hair, she had a somewhat shy personality. "Sachi, hasn't Kirito arrived yet?"
As she was asked, Sachi opened a message window and read the information aloud. "Kirito said that since Guildmaster Keita went to buy a guild base, the party is short one person. He's planning to find a reliable friend to come help."
"Seriously, Kirito is good at everything, but he's a little too cautious.
With our current strength, I think we can totally explore the next floor. Even without Keita as our frontline warrior, we can still handle it with ease."
As he spoke, the blond thief named Sasamaru patted his chest loudly, making it clear that he thought Kirito was making far too much of it.
The other two, Tetsuo and Dakar, did not say anything, but they more or less shared the same thoughts.
Ever since Kirito had joined the Moonlit Black Cats, although he had concealed his true level, he had always secretly pulled his weight in battle while looking after the others.
Some time ago, they had even successfully killed an elite monster they encountered in the field, which had made the Moonlit Black Cats start to get a little full of themselves.
The members of the Moonlit Black Cats were originally all from the same club. Since they were all still fairly young, their temporary success had made them instantly feel like they were invincible, leading to this expedition.
Kirito and Sachi had originally opposed it, but when the five of them voted,