Chapter 58: Heathcliff’s Invitation

Of course, most people basically had an attitude of admiration for these four.

If Kirito was crowned as a "beater", it was largely because the clearing players affected the progress of the lower-level players.

But if they cleared the first floor on the third day, and then cleared the floors all the way, almost killing their way through the entire Aincrad, then this kind of player would be admired by most players.

When the gap was large enough, so large that it was impossible to catch up, the desire to compare and hate naturally faded.

The current SAO players seemed to be in a state of slacking off. To be precise, the base of lower-level players had increased, and the high-level players were still the same group of people, but they could all feel that the tense atmosphere had decreased a lot.

Naturally, there was less motivation. Also, because of the clearing of the floors, high-level players wouldn't occupy the resource areas of low-level players, and conflicts wouldn't arise. As for information about dangerous monsters, clearing players would create corresponding data and distribute it to various new players.

There would still be some conflicts, but it was still much less than in the original work.

However, as the subjugation progressed, the higher-level floor bosses became more difficult to deal with.

The strength of the BOSSes on these specific floors would increase greatly, and each BOSS had strange abilities. It wasn't always possible to ignite and kill the monsters when the BOSS switched forms.

Some BOSSes would only drop specific health points, and wouldn't lose HP beyond a fixed amount of damage. Some BOSSes were agile and didn't give the four of them time to cooperate collectively.

In the end, the four formed a team with Naoki Kirigaya as the main attacker, Kirito as the backup, Asuna responsible for connecting the stuns and creating suitable opportunities for the two to switch sword skills, and Misumi Tozawa responsible for handling unexpected situations.

The four had a fixed and matching combination, so they were able to clear the floors all the way.

Unfortunately, no matter how strong the four were, there were still some people who weren't enough.

Subjugating a BOSS was never a simple task. Many times, a strategy group was dispatched to subjugate it. This trend became more and more obvious as they reached the end.

However, in order to avoid having his kills stolen by others, Naoki Kirigaya kept improving his strength.

In fact, with his high attack power, the last hit of the BOSS was always completed by Naoki Kirigaya.

Actually, the difference between beta testers and ordinary players was just a few months of game time. The main source of strength was the information gap. As the game time passed, this information gap would become smaller and smaller. If the so-called beta testers couldn't shake off the ordinary players who were catching up, then they would be surpassed.

Although the Naoki Kirigaya group of four was powerful, the players weren't doing nothing.

The strategy group in the original work was still formed.

The Knights of the Blood Oath emerged out of nowhere, and the founder was Heathcliff. Of course, the so-called Heathcliff was Kayaba Akihiko.

He was known as the "Holy Sword" and had never been defeated in one-on-one combat, and no one had ever seen his HP drop below 40% (because he was protected by the system).

His outstanding combat power (GM authority) and leadership ability also earned him the title of the strongest player in SAO.

Now, Naoki Kirigaya was facing such a problem.

"Hello, Roa. I've heard of your name. I'm sure you know me too." A tall man with a square face and a dignified appearance, holding a large, heavy, silver-white cross shield, gave off a sharp aura. That's what Heathcliff said.

Naoki Kirigaya was about to say something, but was interrupted by the other party.

"Then, I'm sure you know what I want to do by coming here."

Heathcliff pointed to the three people behind the boy and said in a deep voice, "You are all powerful players. Honestly, I don't think anyone could have done what you did, clearing the thirtieth floor in just half a year."

Without waiting for everyone to respond, he continued to speak on his own, "You are very powerful people, there's no doubt about that. At first, I was very curious who cleared the first floor on the third day of the game. Then you cleared the floors all the way, clearing the second floor on the sixth day, and the third floor BOSS on the ninth day. Your record really surprised me. Honestly, there are no cheats in this game. I even suspected that you were cheating."

Hearing Heathcliff's words, Naoki Kirigaya's mouth twitched. He glanced at the three people next to him without leaving a trace. In fact, what Heathcliff said was right. He was indeed cheating, but he only opened a blood-lock cheat. Now that the GM was in front of him, Naoki Kirigaya only felt excited.

Naoki Kirigaya rewriting the HP code of the three was a fact. He was really worried that the other party would notice something. Although this anomaly was very small, and even if it wasn't the last bit of blood, that string of abnormal code wouldn't take effect on its own, he still had the feeling of a mouse seeing a cat.

Cheating in front of the official, what was this?

But the GM in front of him didn't seem to have noticed anything?

While breathing a sigh of relief in his heart, he silently gave the other party the middle finger.

You are the GM, you are only allowed to cheat yourself, and no one else is allowed to cheat.

Heathcliff's heavy voice came again, interrupting Naoki Kirigaya's thoughts, "So, now, on behalf of the Knights of the Blood Oath, I sincerely invite you to join us."

Naoki Kirigaya focused his gaze on the meticulous man in front of him, and fell into silence.

Accept? Or reject?

Naoki Kirigaya's choice was actually inclined to reject, no matter which aspect he considered.

First of all, he himself was an anomaly. He needed to hunt BOSSes and devour the souls of the floor masters to complete system tasks and light up his golden eyes. So from the beginning, joining a large guild was impossible.

But if he refused, Naoki Kirigaya's eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the other party's face, and he asked, "What if I refuse your invitation?"

Heathcliff sighed, feeling a little regretful. He said frankly, "You are all top players. I didn't expect to be able to persuade you all at once. But you can also feel it, right? As the floors increase, the strength of the four of you alone is not enough. Well, as long as you think it through, you can come to me at any time."