Chapter 15: Stick 'em Up! Hand Over Your Gold, Gear, and Materials!
"Players ahead."
Seito spotted the flickering silhouettes in the distance. He descended from the sky, landing gracefully in front of his party while drawing his Chokuto.
Sora, Shiro, and Sally immediately halted, drawing their own weapons with practiced ease.
"Players? What's wrong?" Maple asked, looking completely bewildered. She didn't understand why everyone had suddenly entered combat mode.
Seeing her confusion, Sally patiently explained. "In a game like this, player conflict is inevitable. We don't know who they are, but in the wilds, it's always better to be cautious."
"Oh, I see!" Maple nodded, then looked at Seito. "Seito-kun, should we take a detour? We don't want any trouble, right?"
"Detour? No way." Seito shook his head. "It's not every day you run into 'Walking Wallets' in the middle of nowhere. It would be a crime not to rob them."
"Huh?!"
Maple and Sally's eyes nearly popped out of their heads. Wait... is this allowed? Is this legal?!
Blank, however, remained perfectly composed. They had already anticipated Seito's "Pro-Gamer" mindset.
"Hehe... these guys have been grinding for an entire day," Sora said with a wicked smirk. "Think of the gold and rare materials they must be carrying."
The death penalty in God's Domain was brutal. It wasn't just losing a level; a single death reset a player all the way back to Level 1.
Shiro lifted her massive machine gun, her expression blank but her tone eager. "Nii... Seito-nii... let's go~"
"Move out!"
At Seito's command, the trio charged forward. Maple and Sally exchanged a frantic look before quickly rushing to follow.
....
Elsewhere in the Dark Moon Forest...
Three cloaked players had cornered two women. The aggressors wore cloaks emblazoned with a sinister, grinning coffin—the mark of a group that clearly wasn't looking to make friends.
The two women glared back, their faces flushed with indignation. If Seito were here, he would have recognized the men as members of Laughing Coffin from SAO.
As for the women? They were none other than the older sisters of Yukino Yukinoshita and Rikka Takanashi.
Haruno Yukinoshita and Touka Takanashi.
Because Haruno and Toka were only Level 11, they had been easily trapped by the PKers.
"Hehe, ladies, let's make this easy," the leader, a middle-aged man with a foreign accent, sneered. "Hand over your gold, your gear, and every scrap of material in your inventory, and you can walk away."
Laughing Coffin had spent the day terrorizing the second floor, and their "harvest" had been lucrative
.
"Just kill us then," Haruno said coldly.
"Levels can be regained."
She wasn't afraid. The Yukinoshita family had already mobilized a massive group of players into the game. If she died, she'd just power-level back up. As for drops? You only lose a random item from your inventory upon death, so she wasn't overly concerned.
"So, you've chosen the hard way?" the leader's face darkened, his cohorts following suit.
Just as the tension reached its breaking point, a voice rang out from the shadows!
"Spatial Dragon's... Breath!!"
BOOM!!
A massive AOE (Area of Effect) blast erupted, sending the three Laughing Coffin members flying. Their HP bars plummeted by three-quarters in a single second!
Haruno and Touka whipped their heads toward the source of the attack.
Through the clearing walked Seito, his white trench coat fluttering, Chokuto held loosely in his hand. He looked every bit the elegant
"Uncrowned King."
"Seito~" Haruno recognized him instantly.
Back in middle school, Seito had spent half his time at the Yukinoshita estate teasing "Yukino," so Haruno was very familiar with his antics.
"Who goes there?!" the leader roared, scrambling to his feet. But when he saw their IGNs, he froze, then let out a cold laugh. "I see. If it isn't 'Sei' and 'Blank,' the ones the Eastern servers are hyping up so much."
"Eastern? So you're a Westerner?" Seito tilted his head
.
He recognized the Laughing Coffin emblem, but the man's comment was interesting. Was their headquarters based in the Western servers? Seito was curious, but he didn't really care.
"Naturally!" the man nodded. "Sei, Laughing Coffin has no quarrel with you. Are you sure you want to meddle in our business?"
"Meddle? Who's meddling?"
Seito adjusted his collar and thrust his blade into the ground, leaning his hands elegantly over the hilt. "Anyone who doesn't want to die better hand over their rare materials, gear, and gold. Now."
Laughing Coffin: "..."
Haruno: "..."
Touka: "..."
Wait... you're here to rob them too?!
The group stared at Seito's calm face in stunned silence. Haruno's eyes twinkled with mischief as she chirped, "Seito-chan~ Thank you so much for coming to save us!"
Every eye in the forest locked onto Seito. His teammates, Maple and Sally, looked on with concern.
Seito didn't say a word. He simply gave Shiro a subtle look.
The party saw the signal. Shiro immediately understood, raising her massive machine gun and aiming it directly at Haruno.
"Don't move... this is a stick-up...!"
Despite Shiro's soft, adorable voice, the sight of the "Big Boy" in her hands made the smiles vanish from Haruno's and Toka's faces. Haruno was speechless. She had just been robbed by her sister's best friend.
Seito didn't waste time. Using Spatial Blink, he instantly appeared in front of the three Laughing Coffin members, accompanied by Maple and Sora.
"You have one minute. Empty your pockets."
"Hehe," the leader chuckled, but he was secretly typing a message.
Within sixty seconds, the trees rustled. Thirty more Laughing Coffin members emerged from the shadows, surrounding Seito's party. The atmosphere turned suffocatingly heavy.
Seito didn't blink. He turned to the girl beside him.
"Maple. Can you keep them all in place for me?"
Thank you for reading.
...
Okay this is all for today, hope you all enjoy it once again this is an reminder this is Chinese translation so make sure to turn off your brain while reading.
Update schedule: 1-2 chapters daily.
If you want to read ahead please do check my p*troen:Koko_890.