Rapid footsteps were approaching quickly.
Kirito subconsciously tensed his body, his knuckles white as he gripped the sword hilt.
Having just escaped such an intense deathmatch, every nerve in his body was still on the verge of snapping.
"Who is it?"
Chen Mo, however, just waved his hand, signaling him not to be nervous.
"Relax."
His voice was as steady as ever.
"It's not an enemy."
No sooner had he spoken than a small figure stumbled in through the arena entrance.
Her orange short hair swayed violently as she ran, and the small face that always wore a shrewd smile was now only filled with panic and paleness.
It was Argo.
"Chen Mo! You bastard!"
Her voice was hoarse, with an uncontrollable tremor, as she ran and shouted with all her might.
"Don't you know... don't you know how worried I was! Don't you know how dangerous the Tenth Floor's Boss is! Why... why did you come here to die by yourself without waiting for me!"
Kirito was completely stunned.
The Argo in his eyes was always the "Rat" who valued information and col more than her life, calm and cunning, as if nothing could truly move her.
But the her in front of him was crying like a lost child.
Chen Mo was also visibly taken aback.
Just as he was about to speak, Argo had already rushed straight to him like an out-of-control cannonball.
The next second, under Kirito's shocked gaze, the girl, whose height only reached Chen Mo's chest, suddenly threw herself into his arms.
She wasn't embracing him.
It was more like she was confirming whether the person in front of her was an illusion.
"W-woo... I thought you were dead... I really thought I'd never see you again..."
Argo's face was buried deep between Chen Mo's hard chest plate and trench coat, her small fists haphazardly pounding him. The force wasn't great, but it carried a sense of despair.
Warm tears instantly soaked the fabric on his chest.
"You idiot! The biggest idiot in the world! Why did you come alone! Why didn't you wait for me!"
Chen Mo froze completely.
His hands hovered in mid-air, unsure whether to put them down or push her away.
The warmth and trembling from his embrace, and the scent lingering at his nose, not of the battlefield or monsters, made him feel an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity and helplessness.
This situation... he had no contingency plan for it in his memory.
Kirito watched from the side, his heart deeply shaken.
That god-like, devil-like, utterly ruthless Chen Mo, that man who defeated a 350,000 HP Boss with a single sword... would he actually be forced into such a pathetic state by a little girl?
"Cough..."
Chen Mo's Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a dry cough, trying to use his physical strength to slightly break free from her embrace.
"Argo, calm down first."
"I won't calm down!"
Argo suddenly looked up, her beautiful eyes red and swollen, tears mixed with anger, glaring at him fiercely.
"Do you know how scared I was just now? When I heard from those fleeing players that you were going to challenge the Tenth Floor Boss alone, my heart almost stopped!"
"I rushed here with all my might, and on the way, I kept thinking, what if... what if you died? What if I never saw you again?"
"You promised me! You said you wouldn't leave me alone!"
Chen Mo fell silent.
He had indeed said that.
On the First Floor, in that tavern under the moonlight, when this girl chose to be his teammate.
"...I'm sorry."
Three difficult words squeezed out of Chen Mo's mouth, not loud, but they made Kirito on the side feel more incredible than a Boss's roar.
That Chen Mo who never explained, never backed down, and was always right... actually apologized?
"What's the use of apologizing!"
Argo's small face was puffed up with anger, like a provoked cat.
"You must promise that if you ever do something life-threatening like this again, you must, absolutely must tell me beforehand!"
"I..."
"You must promise!"
Argo interrupted him, her tone a stubborn insistence that allowed no argument.
"If you don't promise, I'll keep crying until you agree! I mean what I say!"
Chen Mo looked at her clear yet stubborn eyes, washed clean by tears, and a tiny crack seemed to appear in a place within his heart that had been frozen for a long time.
From the moment he was reborn, he had grown accustomed to bearing everything alone.
He was used to pushing everyone away with indifference and walking down that thorny path by himself.
But now, there was someone crying for his safety.
There was someone who genuinely feared losing him.
This feeling... made him feel at a loss, but he didn't dislike it.
"I promise."
His voice was very soft, yet incredibly clear.
"From now on, I will tell you beforehand."
Argo sniffled, then burst into laughter through her tears, wiping her face haphazardly with a dust-stained sleeve, leaving two comical tear streaks.
"That's more like it."
She suddenly remembered something and quickly broke free from his embrace, looking around vigilantly.
"Oh, right, where's the Boss? Did you guys... really win?"
"Of course."
Kirito finally found an opportunity to speak, his tone filled with uncontrollable reverence.
"You didn't see the battle just now, it was simply... simply indescribable! Chen Mo alone..."
"I know he's amazing."
Argo, however, interrupted Kirito a step ahead, her small face filled with proud glory, as if the person who had just been crying so messily wasn't her.
"After all, he's my partner!"
As she spoke, she skillfully pulled out her treasured information notebook and quill from her embrace.
"But I need to write down the battle data properly. The first clear of the Tenth Floor Boss by two people, that's huge exclusive information! It can sell for a lot of col!"
Seeing her instantly switch back to her shrewd, calculating "Rat" mode, Chen Mo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let's go, leave this place."
He turned, his Black Swordsman's trench coat stirring a gentle breeze.
"Wait!"
Kirito suddenly called out to him.
"I have a question."
"Speak."
"What was that skill you used at the end?"
Kirito's eyes gleamed with a desire and an urge to explore ultimate power.
"That golden sword light, I've never seen it before, and it's certainly not recorded in any strategy guide."
Argo immediately perked up her ears, her pen hovering in mid-air. This question was also the secret she most wanted to know.
Chen Mo stopped, his back to them, silent for a full five seconds.
"That wasn't a skill."
"Not a skill?"
Argo and Kirito said in unison, their faces full of confusion.
"Then what was it?"
"It was the materialization of will."
Chen Mo's voice was faint, as if he was talking about something unrelated to himself.
"When your desire, your obsession, is strong enough to twist the system's rules, it will respond to you in the way you are most familiar with."
"This is an original sword skill, not given by the system, but seized by players... from this world."
"But..." Kirito still couldn't understand, "Why can only you do it?"
Chen Mo didn't answer that question.
He couldn't say it was because he had seen the future where many people would die.
He couldn't say it was because he bore the weight of thousands of lives.
He simply turned around, his unfathomable eyes sweeping over the two of them.
"Perhaps, it's because I'm... more desperate than you two."
He left them with this remark that plunged them into deeper confusion and walked directly towards the lonely teleportation gate outside the arena.
Argo and Kirito exchanged glances, both seeing shock and bewilderment in each other's eyes.
But they tacitly decided not to press the matter further.
Some secrets, they would naturally know when they were qualified to know them.
The three walked out of the arena and stood before the teleportation array leading to the next floor.
"Where to next?" Argo asked, looking up.
"The Eleventh Floor."
Chen Mo's answer was without hesitation.
"So fast?" Kirito was a little surprised, "Don't we need to rest for a bit?"
"Time waits for no one."
Chen Mo glanced at the system clock.
"In the real world, every minute, someone might truly die because the NERvGear's maintenance device reaches its limit."
"We have no time to waste."
His cold words made the recently eased atmosphere heavy again.
Argo bit her lip hard, her eyes incredibly firm.
"Then I'm coming too."
"No."
Chen Mo refused without thinking.
"The Eleventh Floor will only be more dangerous. You'll die."
"I'm not afraid of death!"
Argo stuck out her neck, not backing down an inch.
"Besides, you need my information! You can't possibly know all the hidden quests and monster distributions!"
"I can do it myself..."
"You can't!"
Argo's tone suddenly became incredibly serious, and she looked Chen Mo directly in the eyes.
"Chen Mo, I know you're very strong, strong like a monster."
"But even the strongest monster needs ravens to deliver messages for him, and wolves to lick his wounds."
She took a deep breath and said, word by word.
"You said before that you hoped to have teammates who could fight alongside you on the future battlefield."
"Now, I'll say it again."
"I am your teammate."
Chen Mo fell completely silent.
Kirito watched this scene from the side, and a warm current suddenly surged through his heart.
It turned out that this ruthless man was not truly invulnerable.
It turned out that he too could be swayed by the most simple emotions.
Perhaps, he didn't truly need no one.
He was just... afraid of losing again.
"...Alright."
Chen Mo finally compromised, and this sigh-like agreement represented the melting of some kind of ice.
"But you must obey me completely."
"Of course!"
Argo was so happy she almost jumped, a brilliant smile blooming on her face.
"What about me?"
Kirito immediately followed up, unwilling to be outdone.
"I want to go to the Eleventh Floor too."
Chen Mo's gaze turned to him, scrutinizing.
"Are you sure? After the battle just now, you should be clearer than anyone about the gap between us."
"Precisely because I'm clear, I want to go even more!"
Kirito gripped the [Meteor] sword in his hand, the starlight flowing on its blade reflecting his determined face.
"I want to become stronger."
"Strong enough to one day truly stand beside you, not behind you."
Chen Mo looked at the burning flame in his eyes and finally nodded.
"Then let's go."
The three stepped onto the teleportation array together, and the light engulfed them.
And at that very moment, a shocking piece of news, like a storm, swept through every corner of SAO.
[System Announcement: The Tenth Floor Labyrinth Area has been cleared!]
[First Clear Players: Chen Mo, Kirito.]
Shadow and Black Swordsman, a two-person clear of the Tenth Floor!