Chapter 165

Siluban, also known as the Emerald City, is the capital of the Wind Spirits’ territory, and it is the city I am heading to. The small barren mountain I visited earlier is not far from this city.

After entering the territory of the wind spirit, I chose to fly low in the forest. Perhaps most people wouldn’t choose to fly low in a dense forest while flying, but I could do it with my eyes closed without any problem. Moreover, I noticed a girl practicing her flying skills not far away, which was the main reason I flew low in the forest.

“Wow, it’s really fast! No wonder it’s a wind spirit famous for its flying speed. Luckily, I found a quiet place to practice, or I would have embarrassed myself.” The blonde girl exclaimed as she felt the speed of the flight.

As a girl playing a stealth game for the first time, this was her first time experiencing the fun of stealth games. Therefore, even though she had pretty good motor skills, she still needed some time to adapt. So after leaving the city, she practiced her flying skills in a place where there were few people.

“Alright, we can try speeding up a bit now.” The blonde girl had tried flying too fast at first and couldn’t get used to it, so she slowed down. Now she could speed up.

The blonde girl seemed to be gradually mastering the skill of flying, soaring and twirling among the tall trees. The scenery flashing by and the wind whistling past her ears made her even more excited, and she directly increased her flying speed to the maximum.

“This is amazing.” Immersed in the experience of flying, the blonde girl was about to turn around the tree when she didn’t notice that I was flying straight in the same direction. By the time she realized it, it was too late.

“Wow, over there, stop right now, um…” The blonde girl had just turned a corner when she noticed me out of the corner of her eye. She wanted to stop immediately, but due to inertia, even if she could stop her fairy wings’ flight ability immediately, she would still crash into me, who was right next to her.

When I saw the blonde girl about to fly around the tree, I knew I was most likely to run into her. I had only noticed a beautiful girl and was just passing by when I decided to take a look, but I never expected to receive such a bonus.

Of course I wouldn’t dodge. Not to mention that the default pain system in the Alo world is turned off unless you have administrator privileges to bring it up, even if I did, I could reduce it to the level of a normal collision. So I prepared to mitigate the impact and went straight for it.

No, it should be “bumping into her chest,” because what I was hitting head-on was a pair of well-developed, soft breasts of a young girl. My face hit them as softly and elastically as if it were hitting jelly. To make matters worse, a glimpse of her fair skin was visible on her chest. Although it was only a small part, my forehead touched it perfectly. The feeling was truly wonderful.

Then I was knocked down by the blonde girl. In a way, this could be considered as being embraced by her soft and sweet body. The force of the impact made me hit a tree trunk before stopping and falling to the ground.

“Ugh…” Although she felt no pain, the impact still made the blonde girl feel dizzy. Before she could react, she had pinned me down and propped herself up with her hands.

The blonde girl’s hands were now resting on my chest, her plump white stockings were perched on my body like a duck, her smooth, white thighs with cutouts pressed against my waist, and her slender white stockings were pressed against my thighs. I could also see her firm breasts standing in front of me. Even though I was still wearing clothes, it was quite a treat.

“Are you alright, waha…” When the blonde girl recovered and realized she was in close contact with me, she immediately stood up, a blush creeping onto her fair face.

“It’s nothing.” I stood up after the blonde girl got off me, and took the opportunity to take a closer look at the blonde girl in front of me.

Her long golden hair was tied into a single ponytail at the back of her head with a light green leaf-shaped hairband, with a small braid on each side hanging down beside her cheeks. She had emerald green eyes, golden eyebrows, thin cherry lips, and of course, pointed elf ears.

The girl wore a white strapless top, with a thick cotton collar that covered her full breasts and had gold trim. She also wore a white choker with green trim around her white, jade-like neck, from which hung a small green ribbon.

Over the white tube top, the girl wore a small green top with two white stripes with green edges covering her chest. On her shoulders were green and white sleeves, which were slightly puffed up like lantern sleeves. Below the sleeves were white arm warmers, and green stockings were used to bind her arms tightly. The cuffs were lace-trimmed, and there was a gold bracelet on the girl’s wrist.

Further down, the girl’s slender waist was tightly bound by a brown corset, tied with a light brown belt. Below the corset was a green skirt with white trim, split in the middle to reveal a small section of white stockings bound by brown leg rings. The white stockings with lace trim parted at the girl’s absolute territory, resembling an alternative safety shorts.

Beneath a section of fair, tender thigh, white stockings continued to envelop the girl’s jade-like legs, this unconventional attire adding a unique allure to her.

Finally, the girl wore a pair of dark brown boots with white collars and brown stripes, and a long knife was attached to her waist.

“Um, sorry, I didn’t notice and bumped into you.” Straightening her clothes, the blonde girl said somewhat awkwardly. This was really embarrassing; not only did she crash into someone while flying, sending them flying into a tree, but she also ended up sitting on that person.

“Don’t worry about it. Hmm… if you feel embarrassed, young lady, how about you show me around your capital? Judging from your appearance, you must be a wind spirit.” Personally, I wouldn’t mind coming a few more times. Being able to touch a young girl’s well-developed body is always a win.

“No problem, but actually I’m just starting out in this game.” The blonde girl stroked her cheek with her slender white fingers, looking rather embarrassed. As for her race’s capital, she had only been to a few places where she received her initial quests, and had only glanced at the rest.

“It’s good to have a local elf like you accompanying me when entering the capital of the wind elves.” Actually, I went to Siluban mainly because I heard that the lord was a beauty. Gathering information was just a side thing. Now that I have a beautiful girl with me, how could I miss it?

“Since you put it that way, I also need to go back to the city. By the way, my name is Leafa. You don’t need to call me ‘girl.’ It feels strange. Just call me by my name.” The blonde girl nodded and said her name.

“Leaf, is that so? My name is Jian, you can just call me Jian.”

“Okay, let’s go then. Jian, I’ll fly slower this time and be more careful.” With that decision, Leafa quickly recovered. She flapped her turquoise fairy wings and floated into the air again.

“Okay.” I took off and flew up, chatting with the blonde girl as we headed towards Siluban.

“By the way, Jian, is this your first time playing a fully stealth game?” Leafa seemed much more cautious this time. Although she was chatting with me, her emerald green eyes were constantly observing her surroundings.

“I guess so, but I have experience with other similar games before. Leafa, what about you?” I didn’t use the stealth device in Sao before, but I did this time. It’s my first time using full stealth.

“This is my first time playing this game too. I’ve never played games much before, but I was curious and decided to give it a try.” Leafa is a kendo girl in real life, and she prefers practicing kendo to games. However, recently, something happened that made her curious about stealth games.

“Didn’t you invite any friends to play with you?” Leafa, whose real name is Kirigaya Suguha, is Kirigaya Kazuto’s younger sister. If I remember correctly, she did have some real-life friends who entered the game with her.

“A friend of mine had planned to come along, but something came up and he can’t make it.”

“Is that so…” After I go out, I’ll investigate a bit. If it’s that guy, I’ll use my connections to get his parents to confiscate the stealth device, to prevent the boy from wasting his time on it.

While chatting with Leafa, we unknowingly arrived at Siluban. The light blue architectural style had a wind elf feel to it. Leafa and I landed on the ground and walked into the city together.

“As expected of a leader’s city, it’s quite prosperous.” Siluban was bustling with people, with many wind elves setting up stalls or buying things on the streets, and occasionally you could see one or two other elf races walking by.

“Jian, where do you want to go? Let me see if you know the way. If not, I’ll ask someone for you.” Leafa, like a tour guide, briefly introduced the places she knew and then asked me.

“Hmm, let’s go check out the area where the players are gathered first.” Originally, she planned to meet the female leader of the wind elves, but now that Leafa is here, she’ll postpone that for the time being.

“I recognize this one. Let’s go, I’ll take you there.” Perhaps because she’s new to this type of game, Leafa is quite enthusiastic, with that feeling of being eager to share a new game with someone.

Leafa led the way for a while, and then we went to a gathering place with a lot of players. Judging from their equipment, there were both veterans and newbies, and information should be flowing quite freely.

“This is it, Jian. What do you need? If it’s inconvenient, I won’t follow you.” Leafa stopped when they arrived at their destination.

“There’s nothing inconvenient about it. I’m just going to gather some information.” There’s no point in hiding information about the World Tree, and besides, I have another idea.

“What kind of information is it?” Since Leafa doesn’t mind me coming along, as a newbie, she’s naturally more interested in what an experienced person like me is doing than doing beginner quests.

“I’d like to ask about information about the World Tree, specifically detailed information about its lower levels. I think quite a few people have tried it.” As long as players aren’t restricted by level or location, it’s normal for them to be curious and go check out the World Tree, and they might even try it out, since Alo isn’t really going to die.

“The World Tree? I heard it’s supposed to be the ultimate quest in this game. Are you planning to do it now?” Leafa glanced at the towering World Tree in the distance, recalling the official introduction she had briefly looked at before entering the game.

“Yes, but it’s not me, it’s my companions who are planning to conquer the World Tree.”

“Then wouldn’t your companions be amazing? Ah, of course I’m not saying you’re not amazing.” Conquering the World Tree seemed like a very distant goal for Leafa, a newbie. She had only just entered the game, and conquering the World Tree was the ultimate task in this game.

“They are indeed very powerful. As for me, I’m currently doing support work and will probably join the front lines later.” Originally, I didn’t plan to participate in the battle much, but after meeting Leafa, I feel like I can change my mind.

Next, Leafa and I inquired about information regarding the bottom level of the World Tree. We learned that there are numerous guards at the bottom level of the World Tree. Each guard is quite strong, and their numbers are vast. Even if a strong player can handle a few guards at once, they cannot withstand the sheer number of guards. The overwhelming number of guards quickly defeats them.

“It’s really difficult to conquer the World Tree, but it’s also very challenging.” Just like defeating a powerful enemy in kendo, Leafa, who was listening to the information about the World Tree with me, was not intimidated. Instead, it aroused the fighting spirit of the kendo girl, even though the goal still seemed a bit far away.

“So, Leafa, are you interested?” Seeing the girl’s enthusiastic expression, I revealed my main purpose in bringing her along: to recruit her into my group.

“Huh? Jian, you’re kidding, right?” Leafa blinked her emerald green eyes in surprise. She was still a newbie to the game, and suddenly being invited to do the final quest seemed strange to her.

“No, according to the intelligence we’ve gathered, to advance the World Tree, we first need to get past the Guardians. And the Guardians are numerous; a few of us won’t be enough. We’ll probably need to enlist the help of another force.”

“You can use this time to familiarize yourself with the game, Leafa. Alo has relatively low level requirements. I see you mastered flying quite quickly, Leafa, so you might pick up combat just as quickly. If you can get up to speed quickly, it’s not impossible for you to participate in the World Tree strategy.” As a swordswoman, Leafa’s inherent qualities are stronger than the average person, and if she gets up to speed quickly, she will be a good combat force.

“Hmm…” Leafa hesitated for a moment, unable to make a decision.

“Are you afraid I’ll lie to you? How about I show you my teammates first? They’re all girls.” Leafa’s hesitation was expected, after all, we’d only just met.

“No, it’s not that. I’m just worried that my strength won’t keep up.” To say that Leafa wasn’t worried about being deceived would be a lie; she did have some concerns, but the girl was definitely too embarrassed to say it out loud.

“You can give it a try first. Even if it doesn’t work out, being a supporter and participating in such a big event is a good experience.” Elifa’s kendo talent should be fine, but I can’t say for sure right now.

“Well… okay, I’ll give it a try.” Leafa decided to agree first and see if what I said was true. If the rest of my team were really all girls, she would join and learn more. Otherwise, she would just log off and run away immediately.

Of course, Leafa didn’t want me to lie to her. First, she had a decent impression of me (a natural affinity for women), second, I was the first person she met in the game, and if she encountered a scammer on her first try, it might leave a bad impression on her. Moreover, she was somewhat interested in participating in the World Tree strategy, which is why she temporarily accepted my invitation.

“Let’s wander around a bit more and then go meet up with my companions. I think they should be almost done with it.” The spiritual sense I had left with Asuna told me that the three girls were fighting the monster leader of Little Wilderness Mountain and were about to defeat him.

While Leafa and I were asking the two players for more information about the World Tree, Asuna messaged me: Jian, we’ve got it all sorted out.

“I’ll go back and meet up with you. You guys take a rest? Or should you come over to my side?” Considering the intensity of the battle wasn’t too high, I replied to Asuna like this.

She was probably discussing it with Silica and the others. After a while, Asuna replied: “Let’s go over there. We’d like to see what the towns in this world are like.”

“OK, I’ll send you the location, you guys can come over.” After thinking for a moment, I sent Asuna the coordinates of a nearby restaurant. In any case, it’s a good choice to rest and have something to eat after the battle.

“Leafy, my companions are coming soon. Let’s go to that restaurant and wait there. I’ll introduce them to you later.”

“Hmm.” Leafa saw me texting and guessed that I was contacting the friend I mentioned. She was also quite interested in meeting other girls who played Alo, as she had heard that the game was quite popular among girls.

Sieli Restaurant is a relatively large restaurant in the city. It uses trees as tables and chairs and flowers and plants as decorations, and its style has a strong elven feel. This design is intended to make players feel more immersed in the experience.

Leafa and I booked a private room on the second floor. As soon as we sat down, the elven maidservant brought out two plates of fruit. They looked somewhat like some fruits in the real world, but they were also different, which aroused Leafa’s curiosity.

“Jian, what do you think of the taste of these fruits? Do they have no taste at all? Or do they actually feel like you’re eating fruit?” As a novice player of stealth games, Leafa had never experienced what it was like to eat in a stealth game.

“Stealth games simulate the corresponding taste and touch sensations and transmit them to your brain, giving you the feeling of eating ‘fruit.’ This is one of the advantages of stealth games—to bring you a realistic experience as much as possible.” I picked up a purple, grape-like fruit, crescent-shaped, and it did indeed taste similar to a grape.

“Wow, it really is!” Leafa picked up a fruit that looked like a strawberry but was about the size of an apple and took a small bite. The sweet juice and flesh swayed in her mouth.

“I never imagined a stealth game could be this good. When I read the description before, I thought it was just an exaggeration.” Leafa and I chatted while eating some fruit. Not long after, there was a knock on the door.

“Ken, we’ve arrived.” It was Asuna’s voice.

“Come in, I’m inside.” As soon as I finished speaking, the door opened, and Leafa saw three beautiful girls walk in from the doorway.

“The restaurant here is quite nice, hmm? Jian, who is this?” Liz looked around as she entered, and the first thing she noticed was the blonde girl sitting opposite me.

“This is Leafa, a player I met on my way here. She kindly helped me find out a lot of information about the bottom of the World Tree in Siluban.” I briefly introduced Liz, omitting the ambiguous encounter between us.

“Leaf, hello, my name is Liz.” Liz introduced herself to Leafa, who had quickly stood up during my introduction.

“Hello, I’m Leafa, nice to meet you.” Leafa bowed slightly to Liz in response, displaying the demeanor of a kendo girl.

“Leaf, is that so? My name is Asuna. No need for such formality, just greet each other as usual.” Asuna smiled and introduced herself in return.

“Yes, hello, I’m Silica.” Silica then introduced herself to Leafa.

“Ah, this was just my subconscious reaction, please don’t mind.” For some reason, Leafa sensed a certain aura from the three girls who came in, as if they were seasoned swordsmen, making her subconsciously assume that they were having a meeting of fellow swordsmen.

Is this the aura of a high-level player? It feels like facing a master swordsman. But none of the skilled players I met at the market gave her this feeling. No wonder she’s going to conquer the World Tree. At this point, Leafa already believed most of what I said.

After everyone had introduced themselves, the girls took their seats, and that’s when I started talking about the information I had found out about the World Tree.

“That’s all the information I’ve gathered. As for information about higher levels, since no one can get in, we have no way of knowing.” After a little time, I finished recounting all the information I had gathered.

“I see…” Asuna frowned. The situation was indeed not so simple. Even with the combined strength of the three of them, breaking through the guards would be extremely difficult, unless…

I noticed Asuna glance at me with her blue eyes, then shook her head slightly, as if she had thought of something but immediately denied it.

“Hmm, so we might need to change our strategy. We could get one of our forces to help resist the guards, and then you could break out.” Asuna could tell us what she was thinking later; for now, let’s set our objectives.

“This is indeed a feasible method. So, which faction should we target?” Liz thought my suggestion made sense. Didn’t they also organize a strategy team to fight together back in Sai?

“Let me see. Among the current lords, the Wind Elf and Cat Elf lords are female, which makes them easier for us to approach. Moreover, I heard during the gathering that the two are friends. Once we win over one of them, the other will be relatively easier to win over.”

“Following the principle of proximity, let’s start with the Wind Elf Lord, Shuo Ye.” After glancing at the images of the Wind Elf Lord and the Cat Elf Lord, I decided to begin with the Wind Elf Lord.

Asuna and Silica, who know me quite well, told me something strange about what they meant by “taking action.” Could they really be going to attack someone?

“Wind spirits? Their speed is certainly advantageous in breaking through enemy lines, but Silica, Asuna, Ken, and I aren’t wind spirits. Won’t it be easier to approach them?” Liz asked, considering the composition of her team.

While each elven territory does not exclude other elven races from entering, strategically, each race’s elves still prioritize their own. If an outsider wants to cooperate with the Wind Elf Lord, the Cat Elf Lord, who is also a friend, is the most likely candidate.

“Isn’t Leafa here? We can use Leafa’s identity to build up some reputation here, and then contact the Wind Elf Lord. If we rashly go up to her to talk about cooperation, especially something as important as conquering the World Tree, I doubt she will agree.”

“Huh? Me?” Leafa was caught off guard by my sudden mention of her, and didn’t react for a moment.

“Oh, right, I invited Leafa to join our team before. Although she’s a newbie, I believe she’ll get the hang of it quickly. We should have some time before we get the Wind Elf Lord’s cooperation. Asuna, you guys don’t have any objections, right?”

We’re in the game now, and Asuna and Silica are both on my side, so they naturally won’t object. My two friends have no complaints, and Liz won’t say anything either. Besides, having more teammates is always a good thing in the current situation.

“Leaf, what about you? It’s not too late to back out now.” After asking the three girls for their opinions, I turned to Leafa again.

“Uh…no, I’m happy to join your team.” Why does it sound like I can’t take back what I said? It’s just joining a team, it’s not like it’s a life-altering event, Leafa muttered to herself.

“That’s good. Then you’ll be in charge of negotiating the missions related to the wind spirits. Before Leafa becomes a combatant, Asuna and the others will complete the missions and accumulate reputation.” With Leafa’s participation confirmed, I drafted a preliminary action plan.

“And I’ve been spending this time training Leafa. You might not know this, but I do have some gaming experience, which I believe will help Leafa improve her skills faster.” As for me, I can’t just sit around doing nothing. Guiding pretty girls is something I’m good at.

“Hmm… it’s not that I didn’t expect it. After all, you’re a man, so it’s normal for you to have played games before. I’m just a little surprised that you’d play with us.” Liz thought I would be too busy to help out often, and that the technical staff would handle the support for them.

Asuna and Liz didn’t say anything. Of course I have gaming experience, and I was the first player of a full stealth game. They knew me all too well.

“You won’t be playing games all the time, and I won’t be working all the time either. It’s nice to play games during my breaks.” To be precise, I only make decisions on major company matters now; the rest can be handled by my capable female employees.

As for the three girls, Asuna is fine with me for now. Kliss and Silica will be playing games at home from now on. If they get addicted to the games, even if they don’t have to go to school for the time being, I believe their parents will most likely give them a good scolding.

Leafa, needless to say, is a high school girl. Fortunately, her parents are quite busy and can’t take care of her life, so she has more free time in the evenings and can do whatever she wants with it.

“Leaf, is it okay?” I had no problem with it, so I turned to ask Leaf, the person in question. Asuna and Silica, on the other hand, hoped that Leaf wouldn’t agree, not because they were jealous or anything, but simply because they didn’t want another girl to fall into my clutches.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you.” Leafa obviously couldn’t read Asuna and Silica’s minds, and the two women couldn’t possibly say it themselves, because if they did, their relationship with me would be exposed.

After we reached a basic consensus, I ate something and chatted with the girls. Once Asuna and the others had rested enough, we continued playing the game.

In the previous battles, Asuna and the others had become somewhat familiar with the fighting style in Alo. Not long after the Sao incident ended, the three girls’ fighting spirit was still intact. Next, they tried to combine it with Alo’s magic, focusing on melee combat and using magic as a supplement, to further enhance their combat power. So they went to find some more powerful monsters.

Meanwhile, Lil’fa and I went to a more beginner-level area in the Wind Elf territory to practice against the monsters there. After leaving the city, I gave the blonde girl some pointers on flying techniques. With her already good talent, she mastered the basics of flying quickly in Alo under my guidance, and the blonde girl gracefully flew through the forest.