Rest and Recovery

Kirigaya Kazuto nodded. This time, he didn't activate Berserk again, but simply defeated his opponent with ordinary sword skills.

Afterward, Asuna stared at Kirigaya Kazuto in surprise. Curious, she asked, "What kind of sword skill was that? I don't think I've ever seen you use it before."

Asuna wasn't asking about Sword Draw Style. She was asking about the blue light that had flared up around the boy.

Kirigaya Kazuto smiled and explained, "Once you master a sword skill of your own, earn the system's recognition, and manage to use it, you'll gain a unique skill."

That was how Kirigaya Kazuto explained it to Asuna, but only he knew what was really going on.

The world now was real, not a game world controlled by Akihiko Kayaba.

In other words, he was now in complete control of his skill list.

They kept fighting that way for nearly two hours. He got a few weapons of decent quality, but the hooded rat never showed up, which left Kirigaya Kazuto feeling rather helpless.

Night had fallen. The game had hunger and fatigue meters, too. Players couldn't feel them, but if they went too long without eating, they'd still get a debuff. On top of that, beasts grew more vicious and harder to deal with at night.

Feeling the sticky grime on his body, Kirigaya Kazuto decided it was time to head back and change. He also wanted to ask how things were going for Kirito and the others.

Taking Asuna with him, he made his way back to the Starting Town with ease and found an inn. He checked the price: 200 col. It wasn't too expensive—a Man-eating Flower was worth about a hundred col.

Col was the currency of this world. You needed it for food, lodging, and equipment.

Players and NPCs alike cast strange looks at Kirigaya Kazuto as he passed.

There was no mystery why: he was covered in green slime and smelled awful.

Asuna didn't know what to say. The monsters' slime had gotten on her clothes, too, but once they'd been dead for a while, the sticky mess disappeared.

Kirigaya Kazuto waved at Asuna and flashed her a radiant smile.

Unfortunately, with his head covered in filth, his handsome face looked somewhat monstrous.

"Go get yourself a room first," Kirigaya Kazuto said. "Of course, if you want to, you can come to mine."

Asuna's mouth twitched at his teasing. "You should take care of your own mess first," she said lazily.

With that, she headed into the inn without looking back.

Kirigaya Kazuto took a bath, soaked in comfort for a while, and scrubbed himself clean. After getting dressed, he went to a shop and bought two low-grade mana potions.

Then he had a meal. That alone ate up almost half his money. Kirigaya Kazuto lamented the outrageous prices and grumbled to himself.

He got a small room at the inn. The hazy moonlight filtered through the curtains and fell across the room.

Kirigaya Kazuto flopped onto the bed and messaged Kirito.

Roa: Kirito, what level are you now?

It didn't take long for Kirito to reply.

Kirito: Level 9.

Roa: I'm level 10.

Kirito: You really think now's the time to compare levels? I wonder how Suguha's doing out there.

Roa: Mother should be back soon, too. By the way, what do you think of that person?

Kirito: Who?

Roa: Don't play dumb. You know who I mean. Usakawa Sumi.

Kirito: She's pretty impressive. She's helped me a lot. I've leveled up so quickly thanks to her.

Roa: Have you touched her hand yet?

At a restaurant in the Starting Town, two people sat across from each other.

Kirigaya Kazuto stared stiffly at the message the boy had sent. He remembered touching the girl's soft hand that afternoon, its warm, delicate feel. His gaze unconsciously drifted to the girl across from him.

Usakawa Sumi.

She was a cute, delicate-looking girl who spoke bluntly and lacked the reserve most girls had. That was Kirigaya Kazuto's impression of her.

But that had been during the beta test. Now, the two of them just ate in silence.

It was clear she wasn't in a good mood.

Kirigaya Kazuto swallowed and tried to comfort her. "Um, you don't have to be sad."

Usakawa Sumi looked up at him. She tried to sound casual. "I just haven't gotten used to it yet. It's fine. I'll adjust in a few days."

Kirigaya Kazuto wanted to say something, but in the end, he stayed quiet. In a situation like this, giving her time to recover was probably the best thing to do.

Back in his room, Kirigaya Kazuto smiled when the other person still didn't reply. He said nothing.

He opened his chat with Asuna and started typing.

Roa: Are you asleep?

Asuna: I'm asleep.

Asuna replied instantly.

Kirigaya Kazuto kept typing.

Roa: You can't say you're asleep if you're replying. What's wrong? Still thinking about what happened today?

The other person didn't reply.

He waited a little longer, but no message came.

He sighed. Whatever. If she didn't want to reply, so be it.

Feeling his body grow tired, Kirigaya Kazuto drifted into a dream.

The world of Jobless Reincarnation.

After releasing his control over Kirigaya Kazuto, he turned and glared unhappily at the blond kid before him.

"Rudeus! Have you learned your swordsmanship yet? Or are you still playing with Sylphiette?"

Rudeus scratched his head and looked at Roa in confusion.

He muttered, "Big brother, you can't stop me from pursuing love just because your new sweetheart ran off."

Roa fell silent, then flew into a fit of embarrassed anger. "One thing has nothing to do with the other. Have you learned your swordsmanship yet? It's been years, and you're still so terrible at it."

Rudeus was unconvinced. "I'm a mage. I only need to learn a little swordsmanship."

Roa's expression turned stern. His pretty, delicate face twisted into a mocking smile as he stared at Rudeus. "Rudeus, if Paul heard you say that, you'd definitely get a beating."

At the mention of Paul, Rudeus visibly shrank back. Clearly, he'd been beaten plenty of times lately.

Still, Rudeus did as he pleased and went right back to cuddling up to Sylphiette.

Roa was exasperated. He tilted his head to the sky, tears glinting in his eyes.

Day 730 of missing Roxy.

It had been two years since Roxy left. Aside from exchanging letters with her now and then, he hadn't had a single pretty girl to keep him company.

Every day was nothing but tedious sword practice.

With no woman around to distract him, he had reached the advanced level of Sword God Style through his own talent. And he was only ten.

A ten-year-old advanced swordsman. When Roa and Paul had fought to a draw, Paul had silently waved his hand to show he could no longer teach Roa anything.

Paul had been worried ever since.

Lately, Paul smiled less and less. Even when he cuddled up to Zenith, he couldn't hide how exhausted he was.

I misread it. Two more updates, after all.