Chapter Summaries

Lin Yuan continued exploring the labyrinth on his own, improving his swordsmanship without levels while sharing useful information with Diabel’s clearing team. After the twenty-fifth-floor boss battle left the team with heavy losses, he maintained his distance and kept following his own path.

• Lin Yuan studied aquatic monsters on the fourth floor and practiced moving in response to their attacks.
• He avoided boss battles and busy streets, exchanged maps and monster observations with Diabel’s scouts, and searched labyrinth walls for clues to the characters he had seen.
• In January, Lin Yuan met Nezha at a smithy, paid to have his worn sword repaired with Kirito’s help, and told Kirito he walked his own path.
• After the twenty-fifth floor was cleared, Lin Yuan heard that a large guild had suffered heavy losses and spoke with Diabel, who continued to exchange route information with him.
• Lin Yuan heard that Kirito and Asuna had stopped traveling together regularly and that Asuna had joined the Knights of the Blood.
• Lin Yuan practiced his improved sword movement in an empty clearing, continuing to train without a level indicator.

Kirito rescued the Moonlit Black Cats, joined their guild, and helped Sachi practice fighting. He kept his true level hidden and planned to learn more about the guild before their next outing, while Lin Yuan continued training alone on a higher floor.

• Kirito rescued Keita and the Moonlit Black Cats from a pack of wolf-shaped monsters near a steep drop.
• Keita invited Kirito to eat with the guild, and Kirito accepted after spending time with the group.
• Keita invited Kirito to join the Moonlit Black Cats, and Kirito accepted while withholding his true level.
• Kirito practiced with Sachi, advising her to focus on staying alive before attempting another strike.
• Lin Yuan studied a dual-blade monster's footwork, defeated it, and rested alone.

Kirito’s growing strength helped the Moonlit Black Cats progress, but their confidence led them into a dangerous labyrinth room despite his warning. As a trap sealed them inside and monsters emerged, Lin Yuan heard the first impact from a nearby corridor.

• Kirito helped the Moonlit Black Cats improve while hiding his true level, and he reassured Sachi when she admitted she was afraid of dying.
• Keita left to handle the purchase of a guild headquarters, while the others entered the twenty-seventh-floor labyrinth to gain experience.
• Lin Yuan followed a two-sword elite monster through another branch of the labyrinth to study its attack.
• Kirito warned the Black Cats not to touch an unusually clean treasure chest, but someone opened it before he could stop them.
• A stone door blocked the exit, hidden doors opened, and Kirito’s teleport crystal failed as countless eyes appeared inside them.
• Lin Yuan cut off the elite monster’s arm and heard an impact from beyond the wall.

Kirito and Lin Yuan fought together to protect the Black Cats from a trap room’s waves of monsters. After the battle, the stone door rose and Lin Yuan checked whether the exhausted group could walk.

• Kirito defended Sachi and helped the Black Cats form a tight formation as monsters poured into the room.
• Lin Yuan found a side passage and fought his way through it, entering the room and guarding the Black Cats’ right flank.
• Kirito and Lin Yuan split the room between them while Kirito directed the Black Cats in fighting and retreating.
• Kirito and Lin Yuan drove back the final wave, and the Black Cats protected their injured companion until the last monster fell.
• The stone door rose, and Kirito checked the group’s health while Lin Yuan asked if everyone could walk.

After helping the Moonlit Black Cats survive a trap, Lin Yuan joined them despite the system’s inability to register him. The chapter ended with him accepting a place at their table, though he remained off their roster.

• Kirito admitted his true level and revealed that he had once been called a Beater, while Keita said the group shared responsibility for entering the trap room and opening the chest.
• The Black Cats agreed on safer rules for exploring and argued over who should check treasure chests, easing the tension among them.
• Keita invited Lin Yuan to stay with the Guild, but the system failed to show him on the invitation list because it did not recognize him.
• Lin Yuan explained that he could not use rosters, parties, or trades, and Keita offered him a place at the new headquarters without registering him.
• Lin Yuan accepted Keita’s offer to join the Black Cats and take a seat at their table.

The Black Cats settled into a cautious routine while Kirito and Lin Yuan explored the labyrinth together and strengthened their fighting partnership. After Kirito brought back a rumor about an item that could resurrect a dead player, he and Lin Yuan left to investigate it on the thirty-fifth floor.

• Keita settled the Black Cats’ room dispute by declaring that Kirito and Lin Yuan would not count toward the guild’s safety margin.
• The Black Cats returned to a suitable leveling area and trained without relying on Kirito or Lin Yuan to eliminate every danger.
• Kirito and Lin Yuan explored the upper-floor labyrinth together, with Kirito handling maps and traps while Lin Yuan studied unfamiliar monsters and protected him.
• The Black Cats kept to areas within their abilities as the seasons passed, while Kirito’s level rose and Lin Yuan developed new ways to channel force through his sword.
• Kirito shared a rumor that the event boss Nicholas the Renegade might drop an item capable of resurrecting a dead player, and he and Lin Yuan left to investigate despite the Divine Dragon Alliance also searching for it.

Lin Yuan and Kirito found the route to the event area, where a resurrection item was expected to drop, but the Divine Dragon Alliance arrived and demanded that they withdraw. Kirito slipped past toward the boss while Lin Yuan stayed on the bridge to hold off the guild.

• Lin Yuan and Kirito found the newly opened path through the snowy forest and confirmed that Nicholas would appear near midnight across the stone bridge.
• The Divine Dragon Alliance arrived in force and claimed it should control the resurrection item for the front lines.
• Lin Yuan refused to let the guild cross, arguing that its members would leave nothing to discuss once they reached the boss.
• Kirito climbed along the outside of the bridge and reached the far bank while Lin Yuan blocked the guild's players without seriously injuring them.
• Lin Yuan drew his sword and stood alone against the advancing Divine Dragon Alliance, declaring that they would not get through.

Lin Yuan held the Divine Dragon Alliance at the bridge while Kirito fought the event boss alone. Kirito killed the boss and returned with the seven-colored crystal, while the Alliance never crossed Lin Yuan’s mark.

• Lin Yuan turned back three successive Divine Dragon Alliance formations without seriously injuring anyone or allowing them past the sword mark.
• Kirito fought Nicholas the Renegade in the snowy forest and rapidly reduced the event boss’s health.
• The Divine Dragon Alliance’s leader stopped the assault as a blue light announced that the boss had been killed.
• Kirito returned across the bridge holding the seven-colored crystal, and the Alliance advanced no farther.

Kirito revealed that the Saint Quartz of Returning Soul could revive someone only within about ten seconds of death, and he kept it rather than giving it to the Divine Dragon Alliance. After months of climbing Aincrad with Lin Yuan, the pair heard cries in the Wandering Forest and rushed toward them.

• Kirito showed the Divine Dragon Alliance the crystal’s description, revealing its ten-second revival limit.
• Kirito refused to give the crystal to the clearing group and said he would use it to save someone if there was time.
• Lin Yuan examined the crystal but could not access its item description through the system.
• Kirito and Lin Yuan returned to the Moonlit Black Cats, where Keita and Sachi agreed they must not take risks because of the crystal.
• Kirito and Lin Yuan continued exploring higher floors, and Kirito’s level rose above that of most front-line players.
• On the thirty-fifth floor, Kirito and Lin Yuan heard a girl cry out and hurried deeper into the Wandering Forest.

Lin Yuan and Kirito rescued Silica from Drunk Apes, but her familiar Pina died protecting her. Kirito told Silica about a way to revive Pina, and as they set out for the forty-seventh floor, Lin Yuan noticed a watcher and revealed he could not use the teleport gate.

• Lin Yuan and Kirito killed the Drunk Apes, but Pina died after taking a blow meant for Silica.
• Kirito told Silica that she could revive Pina by taking her heart to the Hill of Memories within three days.
• Silica agreed to go with Kirito and Lin Yuan, and Lin Yuan spotted signs that someone had watched the fight from nearby.
• Kirito bought supplies for Silica, then teleported with her toward the forty-seventh floor.
• Lin Yuan said the teleport gate did not work for him and set off on foot, promising to catch up.

Silica, Kirito, and Lin Yuan reached the Hill of Memories, where Silica revived Pina’s Heart by gathering the flower herself. Rosalia and a group of orange-cursor players confronted them at the summit and demanded the flower and Silica’s equipment.

• Kirito guided Silica through the dangerous flower fields, letting her fight on her own until the monsters grew too strong.
• Lin Yuan caught up after traveling across twelve floors and warned Kirito that pursuers had entered the forty-seventh floor.
• Silica walked alone to the withered stalk and used Pina’s Heart to grow a white flower.
• Silica picked the flower herself, accepting it as something she had to earn for Pina.
• Rosalia arrived with more than ten orange-cursor players and demanded Silica’s flower and equipment.

Kirito and Lin Yuan defeated Titan's Hand and sent its members to Black Iron Palace Prison. Silica revived Pina with the Flower of the Soul and welcomed her back.

• Rosalia revealed that she had been waiting for Silica to retrieve the Flower of the Soul, and threatened to take it from her.
• Kirito confronted Titan's Hand over its ambushes and deaths, then endured the group's attacks and overwhelmed them.
• Lin Yuan and Silica stopped the players who tried to reach Silica, while Kirito disarmed Rosalia and prevented her escape.
• Kirito sent Titan's Hand, including Rosalia, through a corridor crystal to Black Iron Palace Prison.
• Silica used Pina's Heart and the Flower of the Soul to revive Pina, who returned to her arms.

After helping Silica revive Pina, Lin Yuan and Kirito resumed exploring higher floors while investigating how player and familiar revival differed. A note from Diabel then summoned them to the fifty-sixth floor, where Asuna was preparing a raid strategy and already arguing with Kirito.

• Kirito, Lin Yuan, and Silica discussed how the Saint Quartz of Returning Soul revived players within ten seconds, unlike the Flower of the Soul's three-day revival of Pina.
• Pina sensed that Lin Yuan was strange, but Lin Yuan concluded that the familiar's reaction was not evidence of his otherworldly origins.
• Silica thanked Kirito and Lin Yuan, exchanged friend requests with Kirito, and left the forty-seventh floor with Pina.
• Over the next ten days, Lin Yuan studied monster sword skills on the fifty-first through fifty-fifth floors while Kirito gained experience and they exchanged information at agreed meeting points.
• On March 6, Diabel sent word that a large area boss blocked the northern road on the fifty-sixth floor and that Asuna was planning the raid.
• Lin Yuan learned that Kirito and Asuna were already arguing over whether to use nearby village NPCs to lure the boss away.

Lin Yuan left Pani’s strategy meeting without taking sides in the dispute over using NPCs as bait, then went to the wasteland to study Bone Armor Apes and adapt their movements into his swordsmanship. After other players dubbed him the Nameless Swordsman, he told them his name was Lin Yuan.

• Asuna argued for luring the area boss into an NPC village, while Kirito rejected using the villagers as bait; Lin Yuan pointed out that the tactic’s risks had not been verified and left the meeting.
• Lin Yuan traveled north from Pani and studied a Bone Armor Ape’s movements, then used its acceleration technique to improve his own attacks.
• Lin Yuan noticed that his longsword had begun to bend from the force of his real collisions, though he continued onward to observe more monsters.
• Two leveling parties watched Lin Yuan fight and called him the Nameless Swordsman because he had no name or health bar above his head.
• When a player asked whether he was really called the Nameless Swordsman, Lin Yuan said his name was Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan defeated an armored guard on the fifty-eighth floor, but realized his longsword was nearing its breaking point. After hearing that a player had been killed inside a safe zone and learning about Laughing Coffin, he left town and began the journey back to the Moonlit Black Cats.

• Lin Yuan exploited the armored guard’s counterattack and destroyed it with a sword strike.
• Lin Yuan examined his increasingly bent longsword and decided it could not withstand many more battles.
• Two player parties told Lin Yuan that Kains had been killed inside Martyn’s safe zone and that Laughing Coffin might be involved.
• Lin Yuan chose not to investigate because Kirito and the Knights of the Blood were already looking into the killing.
• Lin Yuan gathered supplies and set out on foot toward the eleventh floor to visit the Moonlit Black Cats.

Lin Yuan traveled down to the twentieth floor, where he found Kirito and Asuna facing three Laughing Coffin members in a graveyard. After Lin Yuan joined them, the red-name players chose to retreat.

• Lin Yuan descended from the fifty-eighth floor toward the Moonlit Black Cats, carrying Sachi's note and a badly damaged sword.
• On the twentieth floor, Lin Yuan followed a forest path and found Laughing Coffin markings and signs of several people passing through.
• Lin Yuan discovered Kirito and Asuna protecting three players from three red-name attackers in a graveyard.
• Lin Yuan offered to help, and Kirito welcomed him, bringing the sides to three fighters each.
• The hooded Laughing Coffin member recognized Lin Yuan and ordered his group to retreat using a teleport crystal.

Lin Yuan left the graveyard after helping Kirito and Asuna stop Laughing Coffin, then returned to the Moonlit Black Cats with his badly bent sword. After Kirito reported that Grimlock had killed Griselda, he recommended a smith named Lisbeth, and Lin Yuan agreed to travel with him to Lindarth.

• Lin Yuan arrived in time to make Laughing Coffin withdraw, then learned that Kains and Yolko had faked their deaths to draw out Schmitt.
• Lin Yuan left the graveyard and traveled to the eleventh floor, where the Moonlit Black Cats urged him to replace his bent sword before climbing higher.
• Kirito returned in late June and told Lin Yuan that Grimlock had killed Griselda and hired Laughing Coffin to silence those who knew.
• Kirito recommended Lisbeth, a smith in Lindarth on the forty-eighth floor, and agreed to travel there with Lin Yuan the next day.

Kirito and Lin Yuan visited Lisbeth’s shop in Lindarth to seek stronger weapons, but Kirito broke her best sword during a test. After Lisbeth examined Lin Yuan’s bent longsword, she joined them in searching for a rare metal guarded by a white dragon on the fifty-fifth floor.

• Kirito and Lin Yuan arrived at Lisbeth’s shop after Asuna recommended it.
• Kirito tested Lisbeth’s best one-handed sword against Elucidator, broke it, and was told he owed her for it.
• Lisbeth examined Lin Yuan’s bent longsword and learned that he had no visible stats or equipment slots.
• Kirito asked about stronger materials, and Lisbeth pointed them to a crystal-grade metal guarded by a white dragon on the fifty-fifth floor.
• Lisbeth took her hammer and mace and joined Kirito and Lin Yuan to find the metal and forge a sword Kirito could not break.

Lin Yuan, Kirito, and Lisbeth reached the white dragon’s nest on the fifty-fifth floor, where the dragon’s attack sent them tumbling into a deep pit. They survived the fall, but Lin Yuan’s longsword broke, and Lisbeth said they still had to find the rare metal.

• Lin Yuan, Kirito, and Lisbeth traveled for five days to reach the western mountains of the fifty-fifth floor.
• The white dragon attacked the group, and Lin Yuan spotted a huge hollow behind the ridge that could be its nest.
• Lisbeth climbed toward the pit entrance, but the dragon’s wingbeats cracked the rock and sent her falling; Kirito leaped after her and caught her.
• The dragon’s tail struck Lin Yuan’s sword as the ground collapsed, bending and then breaking the blade.
• Lin Yuan slid down the icy pit wall and landed safely near Kirito and Lisbeth, who were also unharmed.
• Lisbeth looked toward the distant opening and said they still had to find the material.

Trapped in the white dragon’s pit, Lin Yuan, Kirito, and Lisbeth discovered Crystallite Ingots in the dragon’s nest and escaped by riding the dragon out. Several days later, Lisbeth began forging Lin Yuan a stronger sword from the ingot and his broken blade.

• Kirito and Lin Yuan failed to climb out of the pit, and Lisbeth found that teleport crystals could not work there.
• Lisbeth determined that Lin Yuan’s broken sword needed a thicker, tougher replacement made to suit his movements, while the group searched for material from the white dragon.
• Lin Yuan noticed a patch of hard crust beneath the snow, and Kirito dug up a Crystallite Ingot that he deduced was formed from material the dragon could not absorb.
• When the white dragon returned to its nest, Kirito and Lin Yuan climbed onto its back and tail, carrying Lisbeth with them as it flew out of the pit.
• Several days later in Lindarth, Lisbeth placed the ingot on her workbench, melted Lin Yuan’s broken sword, and began forging a replacement.