Chapter – 19 : Run
When the two returned to the city, they happened to run into Kirito.
"Hey Kirito!"
"Kirito, it's been a while!"
"It's been a while. Are you two on your way back from somewhere?"
"A little bit in the labyrinth district."
"Oh, the field boss was defeated. It was quick this time."
"When did Kirito come back?"
"I think it was last night. I was really tired, so I slept until noon today."
"Well then, let's give a souvenir to Kirito since he's so tired."
"If you're going to give it to me, I'll take it, but what is it?"
Without a word, Hachiman handed Kirito the chakram.
"This...to be honest, I don't need it..."
"I told you I'd get it."
"I was tricked... ha, thanks, Hachiman."
"You don't have to force yourself to say thank you, Kiriemon."
"Don't call me Kiriemon."
"Oh, so Kirito-kun went to get his taijutsu skills too. It's okay. I saw Hachiemon too."
"Don't call me Hachiemon."
The three of them burst out laughing.
"Just to be safe, Kirito. Are you here?"
"Mighty Strap of Leather, that's it!
Maybe we should give it to Egil? It would suit him."
"So that's what you think too."
"Yeah. Actually, I can't think of anyone else who would suit it."
"That's what I thought."
The three of them laughed again.
"By the way, Kirito. Have you heard anything from Argo?"
"Oh, that's right. I was called by Argo and was on my way there right now."
"I see. I think Argo will explain the situation, but it's a bit tricky."
"Really? Well, I'll hear from Argo."
"ah"
After parting ways with Kirito, the two of them went their separate ways, deciding to decide what to do tomorrow tomorrow.
Perhaps because they had been in the labyrinth for a long time, both of them seemed to want to rest early.
"Well then, goodnight, Asuna."
"Yeah, good night."
While Hachiman was resting at the inn, he received a message from Argo.
He said he wanted to meet me tomorrow and talk, and that he had one request.
Hachiman readily agreed and went to sleep.
It was the morning of the eighth day since the second layer was opened.
Hachiman and Argo were gathered at Asuna's lodgings.
"So, what's up today?"
"I have two matters to discuss. First, let me talk about what happened last night.
Now that I've been so involved, I don't think I can just not explain everything to you two."
After that, Kirito seems to have gone to strengthen his weapons at Argo's request.
Even after what happened with Hachiman, it seems that Nezha continued to move to other towns and take on requests.
After the weapon was destroyed, a new weapon appeared in front of them, and the scene was seized.
To summarize what I heard at the time, it was something like this:
He was originally a combat class, but his vision didn't match the Nerve Gear perfectly,
Apparently he couldn't grasp the sense of distance, which caused him to be late and cause trouble for his teammates.
Because he felt indebted to his teammates, he met a mysterious player wearing a poncho one day.
After learning how to do it, I got carried away.
Now, following Kirito's advice, I'm trying to gain new strength.
I decided to abandon my blacksmithing skills and focus on physical skills.
It looks like he's in the middle of hitting a rock right now.
"The guy in the poncho, you see."
"I can't get any information on him at all, but he doesn't seem like a normal person."
Hachman posed further questions.
"But will you be able to use taijutsu if you can't even grasp the sense of distance?"
"That's right, it seems like he's also improved his throwing skills."
"I see. Thrown weapons are less affected by perspective. However, throwing weapons are difficult to use...
Wait a sec, is that a chakram?」
"Of course not. You did a great job, Haru-bou."
"I just pushed it on you because you were in the way, but you never know what good things could come of it..."
"It's kind of a miraculous coincidence."
"Also, I guess calling you Nezha isn't really correct.
Well, she said it was fine to call her that, but to be precise, her name is Naja or Nataku."
"I see... he was a man who wanted to be a hero after all."
"Hachiman, what's Nataku?"
"It's the name of a hero who appears in an old Chinese story."
"I see. So now all that's left is to do something about the person whose weapon was taken, and that will solve the problem?"
"Honestly, that's the most difficult problem."
"Well, that's true..."
"It's not a problem that can be solved by just apologizing."
"This is a criminal act, so no matter how much the people involved apologize and show sincerity,
I can't say for sure whether or not I'll be able to forgive you for this."
"The rest is up to them."
"Yeah. I guess that's all there is to it. So, Argo, what's the other thing you wanted to help us with?"
Hachiman nodded and asked Argo about his other business.
"Actually, this time the information about the boss is coming out more smoothly than last time,
There's one other quest that I'm really interested in."
"What bothers you?"
"It's like it's connected to the boss somehow, or maybe it's just an informant's hunch."
"May we help you with that quest?"
"Yeah. Actually, I have to run around a lot on this errand quest."
"I don't care."
"I guess I don't mind. Shall we start now?"
"If you two are okay with it, please let me know."
"Is Kirito not participating?"
"Kibo is currently guiding Nezha to the location of the taijutsu quest.
After that, to serve as a link if there is any useful information for the quest,
I'm thinking of having you attend the strategy meeting.
According to my information, I think we'll reach the boss room soon."
"Then we'd better hurry."
"Okay then, let's go. Our destination is the jungle near the labyrinth."
And so the three of them headed into the jungle, and continued running through it for ages.
Meanwhile, Kirito guides Nezha to the location where the physical skill quest occurs,
I observed the situation for a while.
(That's what they call terrifying... With this, I think I can clear the quest fairly quickly...)
Kirito stayed there for the rest of the day. Nezha continued hitting the rock without a break.
Kirito watched this and returned to the town the next morning.
Then, by chance, I met Egil, who told me about reaching the boss room.
When Kirito was informed of the strategy meeting, he decided to attend.
The meeting ended without incident, and Kirito was allowed into Agil's party.
"Egil, thank you for this time."
"That's fine, but more importantly, what happened to those guys? I couldn't see them."
"Right now, he seems to be running around desperately trying to gather more information about the boss."
"I see... they're both good guys."
"Yeah. On the first floor, you were desperate for me,
If there's anything I can do for those two, I'll do it."
"I see. Let's do our best tomorrow so we can repay you two."
"Ah, see you tomorrow, Egil."
At the same time, Argo was anxious after receiving a message from Kirito informing him of the start and end of the strategy meeting.
(This might take until around noon tomorrow, that's bad.)
"Ha-bo and Ah-chan. A strategy meeting was held and it seems it just finished."
"I see, that was quicker than I thought. It looks like it will take a while for us to get there though."
"If we don't make it in time, we'll head to the labyrinth as soon as we're done."
"I have the map data, so I think I can manage somehow."
"Well, I'll just have to try my best. Let's move on to the next one."
That evening, Nezha was hitting a rock, forgetting to eat or sleep.
He succeeded in splitting the huge rock with incredible speed.
He then went down the mountain and continued practicing his chakram.
It seems they slept a little and had a meal along the way, but continued practicing until the next morning.
And it was almost noon when Nezha finally managed to control the chakram as she wished.
I started walking towards the labyrinth district.
Just before noon the next day, the three of them had finally reached the periphery of the quest.
"Phew, I guess the next one will finally be the end."
"It's been a long time."
"Thank you both."
"Okay, that's it."
"Now, now...Ha-bo, Ah-chan, this is bad!"
"What's wrong Argo?"
"It looks like the boss's information is wrong."
"picture?"
"To be precise, it seems that one more will be appearing. Asterios the Taurus King."
"I'll contact Kirito right away."
Argo tried to send a message to Kirito, but the message did not reach him.
The message will not reach players inside the dungeon.
It seemed that the main force had already entered the labyrinth area.
"Argo, please gather information on the boss right away. We will enter the labyrinth as soon as we're ready."
"I'll go with you this time. We can't go wrong with any number of people."
"Okay. Let's hurry and get ready."
The three quickly got ready and headed towards the labyrinth.
"Hmm? Is someone there?"
"Oh? That's... Nezha."
"I wonder what happened. It looks like you completed the quest."
Asuna looked at Nezha's face and said, "It certainly doesn't look like he has a beard."
The three of them decided to try talking to him.
"Hey, what's wrong, Nezha?"
"You are... I see, you were also one of Kirito's comrades."
"Yeah. Sorry."
"No, it's all my fault, so don't worry about it."
"So, what happened?"
"Yes. I have successfully completed the quest and completed my chakram training,
I came here hoping that someone like me could be of some use,
I've never been inside the labyrinth before, and I'm not sure what to do..."
That's where Argo comes in.
"Nezuha's presence may be the savior of this matter."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain while we're running. Nezha, we're heading to the boss's room now,
Won't you come with us, Nezuha?
"Yes! Please let me join you!"
"Okay, if that's decided, let's all go!"
"Everyone, let's hurry!"
"I'm counting on you to spot traps and approaching enemies, Haru-bou."
"Leave it to me."
Thus, the players gradually began to come together for today's climax.