"Clang... clang-clang."
After once again struggling to undo a cage trap, Akimi silently pulled out a recovery potion.
Truly, Jeireum lived up to its name as the Prison City—even the wilderness areas were littered with cages of every kind.
Not only were there countless cages, but the number of cage traps was downright terrifying.
Pick any spot, and within a fifty-meter radius you'd easily find twenty or thirty cage traps.
These traps didn't actually deal much damage, but they were extremely well-hidden—easy to trigger even if you were being cautious.
And once triggered, you'd be stuck inside for at least a minute—sometimes as long as ten.
For players like Akimi, who prioritized clearing speed, cage traps were an absolute nightmare.
"Seriously… why the hell are there so many of these annoying things…"
Asuna, who had just finished off a monster that appeared out of nowhere, chuckled when she heard his grumbling.
"Honestly, it's just your bad luck, isn't it?"
"No way?!" Akimi shot back instantly.
"How could this be bad luck? Just the other day, when I upgraded my Nichirin Blade, I succeeded twice in a row!"
As he spoke, he struck a dramatic pose, shaping his body into the character "乆."
But Asuna only laughed more brightly at his attempt to twist the logic.
"Except ever since we stepped onto the 40th Floor, I haven't triggered a single one of these traps. And… if I recall correctly, when I was upgrading my Radiant Silver earlier, I succeeded six times in a row."
She stated the facts in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
Akimi's expression of defiance froze instantly—because Asuna was right.
Right now, his Nichirin Blade was a lower level than her Radiant Silver.
After a moment of silence, his "乆" posture slumped back into an ordinary "人."
In the end, he decided not to compete with Asuna on this anymore—luck was one thing she had never lost in.
"Anyway, this event feels kind of off… who celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival on the solar calendar? And if anything, in Japan it's called the Moon-Viewing Festival."
Akimi muttered, stroking his chin.
Though he'd never really cared much about festivals or holidays, he could at least remember a few.
Asuna nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, and it doesn't seem like there are that many Chinese players in SAO. We've barely run into any this whole time."
"True… but it's not just China," Akimi replied, recalling the data on NERvGear buyers when it first launched.
"Back then, about eighty percent of all units sold went to Japanese gamers. I think there were only a little over three hundred Chinese players total—and if you take away the ones who didn't log in on launch day, that leaves just barely over three hundred inside SAO."
Which, really, wasn't all that surprising.
The ten thousand NERvGear units released that November had been bundled exclusively with Sword Art Online.
They weren't marketed overseas at all—only sold in Japan.
And with the servers being Japan-only, of course foreign players were scarce.
"As expected of the great young master of the Tomioka family—you've really got all the facts clear." Asuna teased him lightly.
Akimi gave a mock frown.
"I worked hard to look all this up myself, you know."
Seeing his expression, Asuna didn't hesitate to jab back.
"'Worked hard yourself'? More like you had the capital for it."
(This was a Japanese pun. The word for "oneself" sounds close to the word for "capital": "じぶん / jibun" vs. "しほん / shihon." She basically twisted his words into a cheeky joke.)
She's getting more and more shameless, Akimi thought.
"…Forget it, I'm not arguing with you." He clicked his tongue and said, "Let's head back to Jeireum first—I forgot to buy more recovery potions, and I'm almost out."
"Mm… so it really does come down to your bad luck, Young master." Asuna peeked at her own inventory with a grin.
"Look, I still have plenty left."
And with that, Akimi's face completely collapsed in defeat.
When Akimi and Asuna arrived at the gates of Jeireum, they found a large crowd gathered around something.
From within the throng, faint traces of singing could be heard.
Seeing the mass of players, the two exchanged a glance and decided to check it out—after all, there was no need to rush the raid right now.
If they needed intel, Akimi could always go beg Kirito for it later, like some "cyber beggar."
But when they reached the edge of the crowd, they realized how tightly packed the players were—there was no way to squeeze through.
After a brief attempt, Akimi shrugged helplessly, planning to just wait until people dispersed before seeing what was going on.
But when he turned his head toward Asuna, he noticed she was standing on tiptoe, curiosity written all over her face as she tried to peer into the center.
Still, even with her tiptoes adding a few extra centimeters, Asuna—165 cm tall—barely reached past 170.
She couldn't see a thing.
"Pfft—haha."
Akimi chuckled without restraint, earning a sharp glare from Asuna, who then returned to straining for a better view.
Her motions only made Akimi want to laugh harder—after all, with their boosted stats, just a little jump would let them see over the whole crowd.
But since Asuna was clearly enjoying herself, he didn't say anything.
Instead, he stepped in front of her, turned his back, and crouched down slowly.
"Alright, no matter how much you tiptoe, you're not gonna see anything," he said with a grin.
"I'll give you a lift."
Asuna froze mid-attempt when she heard him, then turned her head away with a faintly tsundere tone:
"Then… I'll reluctantly agree…"
Even though she looked away, the faint flush on her cheeks was obvious.
"You're so not honest…"
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I said you're really cute."
"..."
"Ah—stop twisting! I'm sorry! You're not cute at all!"
"..."
Yep—Asuna twisted harder.
---------------
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