Chapter 747: Warmth & Yui“s tiny gif
The more monsters killed, the larger the revealed area of the labyrinth.
In other words, the monsters are so screwed!
Mixed in the flapping sounds of the green bugs and the cries of the phantoms are the cooperative combos of sword skills and battlecries of the female and male player duo operating here. The monsters" pitiable wails didn"t stop until after the sun went down beyond the horizon.
Wu Yan and Asuna already cleared out the monsters inside the labyrinth. They were not at the top most area of the labyrinth. The monsters around them are still disappearing into data polygons. They exchanged a look before they opened up their maps. They started examining the map in detail.
Wu Yan"s suspicion was on point. The monsters were way too special inside this labyrinth. But, for experts like them, fights became easier the moment they understood their foes. However, for other players, even elite clearers, they would have trouble killing the monsters unless they grouped together in larger groups.
Game balance is everything in this game. Although most players would admit it, bugs rarely appeared in this game, considering the complexity of this game. Adding strong skills to enhance the difficulty of the dungeon is still fine. Paralysis and breath attack combos were way too OP for the 99th-floor"s labyrinth.
This feature was probably added to preserve game balance. The map clearing up eased the burden of exploration, the game made up for the increased difficulties during hostile encounters.
After a single day, Wu Yan and Asuna explored one-third of the labyrinth just by killing monsters. This is incredibly fast compared to past explorations on the lower floors.
Indeed, not everyone can switch and tag team like Wu Yan and Asuna. Against paralysis, breath attacks, and complex attack patterns, a single misstep might have been the end for the raid group. Given this increased difficulty, the map clearing up after killing monsters might as well be for nothing. For them, the progress would have been just as quick if they faced simple monsters.
In a sense, this feature was designed for players who worked very well and can hold their own in battles.
This setting, was it designed like this or did Heathcliff modify it...?
If Heathcliff did modify it, he must have laid this down especially to expedite Wu Yan"s progress. A mere labyrinth like this couldn"t hold him back. His performance was lackl.u.s.ter compared to the raid group because he had trouble finding the boss room.
Heathcliff is basically giving him the directions to the boss room for free.
Is it because Heathcliff wanted him to reach the 100-th floor sooner? Or is it because he wants this to end the sooner the better? Given his understanding of Heathcliff"s personality, that doesn"t sound right?
He should know this won"t be to his advantage, right? Why would he set it up like this? If that"s the case then maybe this feature was already like this when the game started.
Wu Yan shook his head because he couldn"t tell if this was intentional or not. Either way, he wanted to clear his mandatory quest so the sooner he can leave this world the better. Besides that, he only cared about Asuna, Yui, Sachi, Kirito & co. The other objectives were secondary at best.
"It"s getting dark..."
Wu Yan looked at the time and he looked at Asuna.
"We should go back now..."
Asuna took out a teleport crystal and she raised it overhead.
"Teleport!"
The two disappeared in a flash of light.
Aincrad, 55th-floor...
"Aunt Sachi..."
Yui twisted her body in anxiety. She looked at Sachi who was hugging her with a sad look.
"Is this okay?..."
"Yui-chan, you asked this question multiple times already..."
Sachi bitterly laughed.
"Don"t worry, I guarantee it"s going to be fine!"
"Yeah! Yui!"
s.h.i.+on who was tinkering with a bottle of potion started praising her.
"If I was your mum, I would be so happy I"d probably die!"
"Yui is so smart..."
Silica tightened her hug on Pina.
"Wu Yan-nii will definitely be over the moon!"
"Since everyone said so..."
Sachi rubbed Yui"s head.
"Everything"s going to be okay!"
Yui inhaled deeply and her facial expression turned steely.
"Nn! It"s going to turn out okay!"
At this moment, knocking sounds came from the door. The other girls immediately stood up.
"They are here!"
s.h.i.+on ditched the potion in her hand.
"That"s definitely Yan and Asuna!"
Silica ran over to the door and she opened it wide. Voilà, it"s Wu Yan and Asuna who returned after the sky started turning dark.
"Yo, silica!"
Wu Yan greeted Silica with a wave of his hand.
"I knew it would be you, Asuna made a bet with me..."
"Wu Yan-nii!"
Silica played with her hair in a shy manner.
"Welcome home, did you make great progress in the labyrinth?"
"I guess we can chalk it down as very successful?..."
"Don"t give me that lame excuse! Answer seriously!"
s.h.i.+on chastized him while poking out from behind Silica.
"I am very curious about what it looks like inside the labyrinth of the 99th-floor..."
Asuna turned her head the other way in an awkward manner.
"s.h.i.+on-chan, you better rein in that curiosity of yours, you aren"t going to like what you"re about to hear..."
s.h.i.+on got even more intrigued when Asuna described it like that. Sachi dragged her to the back.
"Alright, leave the questions for later, right now, Yui"s..."
s.h.i.+on and Silica"s eyes lit up as they cleared up the path. Sachi nudged Yui towards Wu Yan and Asuna.
"Now, Yui-chan, do you have something to say to papa and mama?"
"What"s the matter?..."
Asuna got down to eye-level with Yui.
"You can talk about anything with mama, I will do my best to fulfill your request!"
Yui steadied herself and she pulled both Wu Yan and Asuna"s hands.
"Papa! Mama! I have something I want to show you!"
Yui dragged the confused parents into the kitchen. She presented a table full of piping-hot dishes.
Wu Yan scratched his cheeks and he asked with an uncertain tone.
"Food?"
"Nii-san..."
Sachi explained something that rocked their world.
"These are all made by Yui herself!"
Wu Yan and Asuna"s jaw immediately dropped to the ground, they looked at Yui with a flabbergasted look.
"Yui, did you... did you make all these?..."
"Yes..."
Yui lowered her head.
"Papa and mama worked hard in the labyrinth. Even though Yui wanted to help, she couldn"t because she"s weak so..."
"Instead, you made us food?"
Wu Yan lovingly pinche Yui"s cheeks. Asuna also hoisted Yui up.
"Yui, mama"s very happy..."
"Really?"
Yui"s head shot up and she asked one more time.
"Papa and mama like what I made?..."
"Yeah! We like it very much!"
Wu Yan grabbed Yui and he lifted her high up in the air.
"As expected of my daughter, you worked hard on this, I can tell. It"s definitely going to taste divine!"
Yui shook her head.
"Aunt Sachi taught me since I don"t have the cooking skill. So..."
"It"s going to taste great!"
Wu Yan and Asuna said in sync. They laughed together.
"Alright, everyone dig in! Let"s eat Yui"s homecook meal!"
"Kay~~~"