Chapter 393 — A Three-World Time Gap, the First Raid!

SAO's first guild had appeared.

Odd as the name was, it still carried weight and meaning.

Many real-world corporations and conglomerates began gathering intel on the founding members of this "No. 2 Protagonist Party" in the real world.

Unfortunately, they only managed to find two: Kirigaya Kazuto and Yuuki Asuna.

The guild's other members seemed to have evaporated from the real world entirely—not the faintest trace of their existence could be found, and the few who bore some resemblance were quickly proven to be false leads.

And then there was that suggestive name...

No. 2 Protagonist Party.

If there was a No. 2, then surely a No. 1 must exist?

And did the words "Protagonist Party" carry some other hidden meaning?

Whatever outsiders might think, after Xiao Yan treated them all in-game to a lavish meal with Lu Mingze, Kirito, and Asuna, the four of them quickly began preparations for the raid on the fortieth floor of Stuart Float.

"...That's the extent of the intel I've gathered so far."

Xiao Yan was a fearsome brute who had soloed his way to the fortieth floor, and hearing him share his findings, Kirito and Asuna felt their horizons widen.

Kirito might have been a closed-beta player, but after SAO's public launch, the map had expanded exponentially. The Third Floating City, Stuart, had not existed at all during the closed beta, so Kirito knew nothing whatsoever about its boss's data.

Its name, its size, its traits, its skills, what it dropped?

He was utterly in the dark.

"A dragon-type boss of this caliber... I've never encountered anything like it."

Kirito sighed, feeling that his past experience was no longer enough.

Yet his pitch-black pupils glimmered with a faint light.

A challenge was what made it fun.

Thinking it over, every member of this team was quite a character...

Lu Mingze with his dual personalities, Xiao Yan the ascetic, himself the lone wolf, and then Asuna...

He felt as though he had forgotten someone.

Kirito suddenly slapped his head, his gaze settling on Lu Mingze: "What about Lu Yaochuan and Eriyi?"

Naturally, it was not the former he meant to ask about.

Counting the time carefully, Uesugi Eriyi had not logged into the game for over a month.

And Lu Mingze's personality had not switched once in a month either.

Lu Mingze offered no explanation, merely beckoning to him: "I'm logging off. See you tonight."

"Huh? Logging off now? Weren't we going to run the fortieth floor first?"

Xiao Yan was getting anxious.

The task the Main God had issued came with a time limit!

Within three days, if they failed to clear the fortieth floor of Stuart Float, not only would there be no reward—even his credit rating would drop, and the rank of tasks he received afterward would fall considerably.

Yet Lu Mingze only swayed on his feet; he did not actually log off.

In the blink of an eye, the expression on his face, his bearing, his whole air—all of it shifted.

At the same moment, a serene, elegant, silent girl appeared at his side.

"Kirito, did you try Sichuan food after you got home yesterday?"

"Lu Mingze" slung an arm around Kirito's shoulder with easy familiarity.

At those words, Kirito looked as though he had seen a ghost: "Lu Yaochuan?"

"None other."

Only then did the other party seem to notice Xiao Yan's presence: "Hi, you're Kirito and Asuna's temporary teammate? Want us to carry you through the map?"

Xiao Yan's eyes darkened, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, and he said nothing: "..."

Was this guy in front of him a schizophrenic?

But seeing Asuna's utterly unfazed expression, he quickly realized that what had startled Kirito was not the personality switch itself, but something else...

Something that would shatter one's entire worldview!

"Yesterday?"

Asuna blinked: "You two haven't logged in for over a month... I remember it clearly. When you logged off the night of March 28th, you suggested Kirito and I go try Sichuan food..."

Kirito gave a slight nod in confirmation.

Lu Yaochuan stared blankly for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Who are you trying to fool? Your levels haven't changed at all!"

They had to be pulling a prank on him, right?

A whole month—given Kirito and Asuna's temperament, they ought to have gained at least twenty levels by now, surely?

But as he laughed, Lu Yaochuan's expression gradually stiffened.

"You're serious?"

Beside him, Uesugi Eriyi tugged at the hem of his clothes: "Open the map and see."

Lu Yaochuan complied readily.

He quickly noticed what was different.

The entire SAO map had expanded exponentially compared to before.

When he had logged in yesterday, there had clearly been only one floating city!

And now there were not only seven floating cities, but countless colossal bunkers and military-base-like structures as well.

"The closed beta ended long ago. This is the public beta phase now, and all our levels were trained up from scratch."

"After the public launch, leveling is far harder than before, and all the bosses and elite monsters have been strengthened to varying degrees."

Kirito arched an eyebrow. "Your equipment and level, though, Eriyi, are exactly the same as in the closed beta. I remember the [Emberfall Set]'s attributes were so imbalanced they had to be nerfed once in an online update last version... but your set still has the pre-nerf attributes!"

He had long suspected that there was some secret about Lu Yaochuan and Uesugi Eriyi!

And now it seemed his suspicions were right!

But after thinking it over carefully, Kirito decided not to pry any further, and to let his two friends keep some secrets.

So he changed tack: "Xiao Yan just founded the first guild in all of SAO. As vice guildmaster, I'd like to invite you to join."

A guild? Vice guildmaster?

Lu Yaochuan was taken aback.

So he had missed that much?

Xiao Yan silently sent him a guild invitation, saying in a tone of certainty: "You two aren't people from the same world as us."

Why was it a single day on Lu Yaochuan and Uesugi Eriyi's side, when over a month had passed here?

Why could the Lu Mingze personality stay in the game indefinitely?

There were all sorts of questions buried in this, but that did not stop Xiao Yan from drawing his conclusion by intuition.

Lu Yaochuan was amused by Xiao Yan.

Taking Uesugi Eriyi's hand, he said: "How could that be? She and I are students at Panda University—you've heard of it, surely? The number one academy in the world! Come to think of it, isn't Sword Art Online a dedicated LAN game for Panda University's esports students? The fact that you two got spots is pretty impressive!"

By then Lu Yaochuan had been a Panda University student for quite some time. With the help of the chibi version of Great God Wang Xu parasitizing his field of vision, he had quickly risen to big-shot status in the esports academy, and his relationship with Uesugi Eriyi had warmed remarkably fast.

No one paid any mind to the name "Sword Art Online," taking it as a slip of Lu Yaochuan's tongue.

Xiao Yan's mouth twitched as he listened, and he could not resist complaining: "Panda University—what kind of shameful name is that..."

Until today, he had never imagined a university could bear such a name...

Kirito and Asuna exchanged glances, and likewise shook their heads, indicating they had never heard of it.

"..."

Lu Yaochuan felt his throat go a little dry.

He and the others began comparing the details of their respective worlds.

SAO, closed beta and public beta, global rumors.

Panda University, Word Spirit Controllers, Dragon Blood Descendants.

It did not take them long to discover something fascinating—they came from three different worlds!

Even so, both Lu Yaochuan and Xiao Yan considered themselves sons of Huaxia, descendants of Yan and Huang, while Uesugi Eriyi, Asuna, and Kirito were from the Eastern Isle.

The names differed, but the country was most likely the same country.

"Similar worlds, are they?"