At the Crystal Guild headquarters, only two people were present in the council chamber: Kurumi and Asuna. Kurumi sat casually atop the conference table, leisurely adjusting her gear.
"Kimi-nee… you brought Silica back, but you haven't told her who you really are. What are you planning to do? And if Silica asks about Madoka—what am I supposed to say?" Asuna asked timidly from her chair. Just saying Madoka's name made her shiver, her face pale with lingering fear.
"I don't have any big plans. But Asuna~ you'll help me keep the lie, won't you?" Kurumi replied with a serene smile as she slid down from the table and promptly sat sideways in Asuna's lap, looping her arms around her neck.
"Kimi-nee! Please spare me!" Asuna's expression was sheer panic. The trauma from before surged back, and tears welled in her eyes. "You're terrifying… you're seriously terrifying right now!"
"Relax~ Asuna. If you help me keep this secret, I'll grant you one favor," Kurumi whispered near her ear, her voice dripping with teasing allure. "Anything you want~."
"Kimi-nee!" Asuna's expression shifted to one of serious concern. She gently but firmly pushed Kurumi away, then said anxiously, "Kimi-nee, something's wrong. You're not acting like yourself at all."
"Not acting like myself? Asuna, why would you say that?" Kurumi tilted her head, still smiling faintly.
Seeing that calm, unbothered expression only made Asuna more uneasy. "See? That's exactly it! You're not yourself. What's going on? Wait—where's Honda-senpai? I haven't seen her around. She's not with you?"
Kurumi's faint smile disappeared. She stood in silence, turned her back to Asuna, and began walking toward the exit without saying a word.
"Kimi-nee! What happened to Honda-senpai? Is that why you're acting like this?" Asuna grabbed Kurumi's hand, refusing to let her leave.
After a long silence, Kurumi turned around—her face filled with a lost, pitiful expression.
Then, to Asuna's utter bewilderment, Kurumi threw herself into her arms, eyes brimming with tears. "Asuna… I treated little Honda so well… so why did she abandon me? Uuuu… she doesn't want me anymore…"
"Kimi-nee, calm down! Just tell me everything from the beginning, okay?" Asuna quickly soothed her, holding her trembling friend close.
A short while later, a piercing scream echoed through the hall.
"WHAT?! Honda-senpai went to fight a floor boss alone?!"
"Everyone, assemble! All Crystal Guild combat members, report to headquarters immediately!" Asuna ordered using her vice guild leader privileges.
As for why the vice guild leader wasn't Kirito but Asuna—well... that's a story for another time.
Moments later, nearly a hundred top-tier players filled the council chamber, their faces grim. After a heated discussion, everyone unanimously agreed on one course of action: "Find and bring back Honda-senpai immediately!"
"Soloing a boss is extremely dangerous. Even for Honda-senpai, the risk of death is huge. We have to find her before that happens. There's no time to waste—move out now!" Asuna commanded, her heart tight with worry. She hadn't expected her first order as vice leader to be a rescue mission.
"Wait! Honda-sensei's ID just appeared on Floor 43! Does that mean she already cleared Floor 42's boss?!"
"Unbelievable... She really lives up to her title, huh?" Several guild members referred to Little Honda as Sensei, since she had taught many of them valuable sword techniques.
"This isn't the time to admire her—let's move!" Asuna slammed her hands on the table. "If she's already beaten one boss, that means she's faced death once already!"
"Right! Moving out now!" The members dispersed in a rush, leaving only Asuna and Kurumi behind in the vast hall.
"Kimi-nee…" Asuna turned toward her, both understanding the other's thoughts without words.
"Hmph. I'm not going," Kurumi said, crossing her arms with her cheeks puffed out petulantly.
"It's clearly Little Honda who abandoned me! Saying she's worried I'll get hurt, so she has to clear every labyrinth ahead of time—what a self-righteous excuse! It's all her fault! I'm not going to stop her. If she's that capable, let's see her clear all one hundred floors!" Kurumi huffed, tossing her hair, cheeks puffed in frustration.
"Uh…" Asuna stared helplessly at her. This was clearly Kimi-nee sulking—furious and hurt. Given her headstrong, domineering personality, there was no way she'd ever bow her head first.
Realizing it was pointless to argue, Asuna wisely dropped the subject, pinning her hopes on the guild members being able to bring Honda-senpai back safely.
In truth, tracking Little Honda's movements proved far harder than anyone had imagined. Though her location appeared clearly on the friend list, one week of observation revealed the problem—Honda never went to towns. That completely ruled out using teleport crystals to intercept her.
A week later, the guild received word that the 44th-floor labyrinth had already been cleared. When they arrived, Honda had already advanced to Floor 45.
Having learned their lesson, the Crystal Guild members gave up waiting in town and instead marched on foot through the labyrinths, following Honda's trail.
But trouble soon followed. Outside the safe zones near the towns, monsters attacked aggressively. For the Crystal Guild's elite players, these were easy fights—but even easy battles took time. And every delay widened the gap. Despite pushing hard for days, they found themselves still a full floor behind. By the time they reached Floor 45, Honda had already cleared it and moved on to Floor 46.
After two failed attempts, the guild decided to split into teams, setting up a large-scale encirclement strategy. They tried to predict Honda's path through uncharted areas, attempting to intercept her with a net-like formation.
It didn't work. Unexplored zones appeared as fog on the map, making predictions useless. By the time they finished mapping one area, Honda's coordinates had already jumped somewhere else entirely.
This time, it didn't even take a week—Floor 46 had already fallen. With no choice left, the guild pursued straight to Floor 47.
A month later, in the silent plaza at the heart of Floor 54's town, a burst of teleportation light flashed. Dozens of players appeared simultaneously.
Swish! Every one of them, clad in blue Crystal Guild uniforms, fell to their knees at once. Tears streamed down their faces, their expressions a mix of exhaustion and despair.
"We give up... Honda-sensei, you win! It's been forty-five days—we've been chasing your trail nonstop, and we haven't even seen your shadow!"
Tears continued to fall freely, their emotions too tangled for words.
"Honda-sensei… you're incredible," someone murmured between sobs. Though their worry for her had only grown, so too had their admiration.
She truly was amazing—soloing labyrinth after labyrinth, locating each boss room alone, and fighting every boss single-handedly.
For forty-five straight days, she had journeyed in silence—never resting in towns except to advance to the next floor. She endured endless loneliness, clearing labyrinths by herself—all to keep Kimi-nee from harm.
The more they thought about it, the harder the tears flowed. When they'd first heard that Honda-sensei had gone alone, everyone had thought it was foolish—a suicidal act.
Now, though they still thought it reckless, none dared call her foolish anymore. None of them had the right.
Deep down, they all understood—they no longer had the right to stop her, either. Honda-sensei had already proven it with her actions. She was staking her life to protect her belief.
Before that kind of resolve, none of them could even lift their heads.