Chapter 80: Since when did Shinobu get a “protective wife” attribute?

Once he had confirmed the target, Shirakawa led Shinobu toward the starting town on the first floor. The SAO storyline hadn't officially begun yet.

In the distance stood a girl.

She hadn't yet changed into the Knights of the Blood Oath armor. She wore a crimson cloak, and from a distance, her face couldn't be seen.

"Shirakawa-kun!"

Yuki Asuna spotted the two figures approaching from the direction of the town. Neither was wearing the casual outfit seen during chat livestreams. Instead, Shirakawa was dressed in light-colored adventurer gear that fit closely to his body.

But that familiar face—she recognized him immediately. The black-haired girl at his side was none other than the "Mistress of the Butterfly Estate" from the dimensional chat group.

As the world rescue mission began, Asuna had been hiding in an inn since learning she was trapped in SAO. She hadn't expected that, just three days into being stuck, a rescue mission would trigger.

Knowing how active Shirakawa was in the group's livestreams, her anxious heart finally settled.

She spoke sincerely, "My in-game nickname is Asuna. So Shirakawa-kun can call me Asuna."

"Your in-game name is Asuna?"

It was Shinobu's first time in another world, and she was still full of curiosity. The floating islands around them were fascinating, and the world didn't seem particularly dangerous.

"Let's just call you Asuna then."

Shirakawa didn't mind what to call her. Since this was still the SAO game world, using a player's in-game ID was more convenient.

Unlike past rescue missions, this one felt a little different.

He studied the brown-haired girl with delicate features before him. Her personality wasn't as distinctive as Sakurajima Mai's.

Given the unique nature of this mission, speedrunning it would be easy. With his magic, he could flatten the game's contents. And in that case, the legendary "Flash Asuna" wouldn't even get a chance to shine.

It might be better to train her here as a future "Chosen of the God of Pleasure."

"The mission requirement is to fully clear the game. Are you planning to rely entirely on me and Shinobu, or do you want to try clearing it yourself?"

"Because this experience… could become part of your life."

He wasn't trying to play the babysitter. The chat group's point rewards were lucrative, and speed-clearing the game was perfectly doable.

Shirakawa's expression remained unreadable.

If Asuna could join his familia in DanMachi, he'd certainly welcome it. Truthfully, he did hold some expectations for her.

"So what do you want to do—return to the real world as soon as possible, or treat this game as a trial, and use the dimensional chat group as a springboard…"

"To reach even broader worlds?"

Asuna went quiet at that.

Raised under elite expectations, her entire life path had been planned from childhood.

But was that really the kind of life she wanted?

In the end, she nodded seriously. "I know what I need to do!"

"Shirakawa-kun… Can I call you that? You've been to Hestia-sama's world. What does an isekai feel like?"

"If you want a peaceful life," he replied, "then staying in the modern world is best. But if you want to change your fate… then now is the time to decide."

What did the other world feel like?

It was hard to explain in a short conversation. He could only say—open your eyes and look. He didn't believe that someone with Asuna's personality would be satisfied with a mundane life.

"Most players right now…"

She didn't answer directly, but her actions spoke volumes. She clearly wasn't treating Shirakawa as a crutch to escape the world.

She stood on her own.

"I think most players still can't accept that they're trapped in SAO," she said. "If we want to clear the floors…"

"We'll need reliable teammates, right?"

"Of course."

There were plenty of candidates who could become Chosen of Pleasure—Lisabeth, Silica, even the AI Yui.

The more (younger), the better.

After all, Shirakawa's dream was to become a harem king. There was no way he'd let the opportunity slip. He followed Asuna into the town's center.

Players with online game experience had already begun forming guilds and adventuring parties.

Walking along the street, neither Asuna nor Shinobu wore hoods. Both were strikingly beautiful, and naturally became recruitment targets for many groups.

Instead of returning to the inn, they sat in a corner of the ground-floor tavern. Asuna leaned forward with a serious expression.

"About forming the clearing party—do you two have any thoughts?"

Shinobu, still recovering from the novelty of this world, hadn't even fully grasped the idea of a virtual game. She figured once they cleared Aincrad's tower, they'd finish the mission and get their 300 chat points.

She'd already planned how to use them.

First, leave a teleport anchor in Hestia's world. Then, use the rest to exchange for attribute points and start her own unexpected adventurer life.

"I don't! I'll follow Shirakawa-kun's lead."

Asuna turned to Shirakawa. As a newbie to online games, she had no clue what a clearing party needed.

"We do have some requirements."

"Like what? Team roles or balance?"

"My plan is pretty simple," he said. "Everyone in the party has to be a beautiful girl—preferably around Asuna's level of beauty."

He said it completely seriously.

That casual flirting made Asuna blush. She blinked and asked, "And why's that?"

"Because having a party full of pretty girls puts me in a good mood."

He shrugged. "When I'm happy, we might clear the tower even faster."

Asuna's mouth twitched.

Just because looking at beautiful girls made him happy, their gameplay speed would improve? That reasoning…

Was that not a bit too far-fetched?

She couldn't help asking, "Is all your group rescue activity in the chat group just an excuse to build a legal harem in other worlds?"

"No worries."

"I'll build an illegal one too!"

Of course—

He meant lolis.

Once they finalized the clearing party plans, Asuna immediately took action. She borrowed chairs from the inn and set up a recruitment booth in the busiest part of town.

Two beautiful girls, plus a clean-cut guy.

As the rest of the players were still adjusting to their situation, this trio had already started assembling a floor-clearing team. Naturally, they attracted attention.

Among the crowd was a man with sharp features and a shifty gaze who approached Asuna.

Kains.

A cannon-fodder character Shirakawa vaguely remembered.

Wearing basic player gear, Kains greeted them eagerly. "Hello! Are you forming a clearing team? I'm a beta tester—got as far as floor 38 last time. I might be able to help."

Asuna looked at the man before her. Though he had beta experience, his eyes made her instinctively uneasy.

And besides—

The team was only accepting beautiful girls.

That kind of rejection was hard to say outright. She gave a polite smile and said, "Sorry, you don't meet our team's requirements."

Other players nearby began to gather around them.

The naturally arrogant Kains darkened upon being rejected, but still tried to sound righteous.

"What's your reason for turning me down?"

"Forming a clearing group to complete the game and return to the real world—that should be every player's shared goal, right?"

As more players turned their attention to them, Asuna started feeling a bit uneasy. Still, she kept her expression calm and seriously explained, "Our clearing group is currently only accepting female players. You don't meet our requirements."

"Then what about him?"

Kains didn't even try to hide the hostility in his eyes as he turned his gaze toward Shirakawa.

There was a flash of contempt in his look.

"What, is he a girl too? A tomboy or something? We're all stuck in SAO. Shouldn't we be thinking about the bigger picture?"

But Shirakawa didn't even bother responding.

Instead, the one who stood up was the quiet, well-behaved Shinobu. A gentle smile played on her lips as she lightly gripped the sheath of her blade.

Her figure moved like a butterfly. With a flash of her sword, Kains felt as though countless butterflies brushed past him. The dazzling vision left him dazed.

He instinctively turned to look behind him, only to snap out of it moments later and realize there was a deep gash across his chest.

He stood frozen in shock.

"Looks like we're not getting along… what a shame."

Though it was a game world, death here meant real-world consequences. Kains's body began to dissolve, his last memory being Shinobu's soft voice delivering the cruelest sentence:

"Insect Breathing—Butterfly Dance: Caprice."

Even after watching Kains die, Shinobu's gentle smile didn't fade.

"Please don't use that kind of tone when speaking to Shirakawa-kun."

Even Shirakawa himself had mixed feelings.

Since when did Shinobu develop this kind of "protective girlfriend" instinct?

They weren't even in a relationship yet!