A week later.
The Misty Forest on a certain floor.
Daytime.
Usagisawa Misumi was currently sneaking around with Asuna, hiding here.
Asuna also wore a hood to conceal her identity, covering herself from head to toe.
She had no choice but to hide.
Asuna was now a red-name player everyone wanted to hunt down, which was why Usagisawa Misumi had brought her here to hide.
Even though a week had passed and Usagisawa Misumi had gone from being a yellow-name player back to a normal green-name player, she still did not dare leave the fog-shrouded Misty Forest.
Because her job was to take the day shift and protect Asuna during the daytime.
Asuna sat quietly on a rock, gnawing on the somewhat dry bread in her hand. She was still as unwilling to talk as ever.
As for what Akasaka had gone off to do?
After regaining his right to enter safe zones—that was, after becoming a green-name player again—he had immediately gone to find Heathcliff, also known as Kayaba Akihiko.
Since the other man was the game's developer, he had the authority to deal with Asuna's status as a red-name player.
Unfortunately, when Akasaka found Heathcliff and explained the entire situation, Heathcliff flatly refused.
The two of them were currently on the 55th Floor, the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood, drinking tea in Heathcliff's office.
Akasaka, seated on the sofa opposite him, set down his teacup and spoke flatly. "When I let you go before, didn't I ask for three conditions? You still owe me one."
"I never figured out how to use the last one, so I kept it in reserve. I want to use it now to remove Asuna's red-name status. Is that not allowed?"
Heathcliff decisively shook his head.
"No!"
"Since she became a