Welcome to the Multiverse Group Chat!!!

Chapter 397: Chapter 393 ~ Big Bear

Yuuji danced before the gigantic bull, deftly avoiding its charging attack. 

Despite its size, the Bullbous Bow rushed at him with a speed akin to that of an incoming high-speed truck. It was slower than the nimble Windwasp, but its speed surpassed that of the Trembling Ox and Trembling Cow they faced the day before. 

Moreover, due to its size, players would need to move farther and faster to evade its charge. 

Though to Yuuji, it didnʼt make a difference. 

He evaded every charge narrowly, on purpose, to make sure its attention stayed on him. And while it turned to face him, Yuuji didnʼt miss the chance to strike its head with his blade. 

Although the damage was far less than what he would deal if he were to strike it on its side, he was still whittling down its HP to its inevitable end. 

Meanwhile, Asuna had free reign to slash, pierce, and hack at the open, defenseless sides of the giant bull. 

Though the rapierʼs true strength lie in speed and not damage, Asuna was still consistently whittling down the HP of the field boss. And with Yuuji taking its aggro, the terrifying field boss that wouldʼve required a full party or two, had turned into a mere damage sponge. 

Soon enough, with a final roar, the giant bull turned into particles of light, granting Asuna the Last Attack bonus and the pair, a great amount of experience points, Cols, and items. 

”Amazing…! As expected of a field boss! The rewards are amazing!”

Although winded, Asuna marveled excitedly at the Last Attack item bonus she received and the items that dropped from the field boss. 

Similarly, Yuuji was also quite satisfied with the rewards from this field boss. 

”Oh? I also got high quality meat. Letʼs eat this later!”

”Uhn!”

Asuna nodded, her eyes still sparkling in excitement. 

She too received some high quality meat as one of the item drops from killing the Bullbous Bow. 

They would be able to eat in luxury for the next few days easily!

”Alright! Then, letʼs head to that village and rest there!”

”Yes!”

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

Yuuji and Asuna slowly made their way to the closest settlement to the Labyrinth, taking their time. 

The fight against the field boss wasnʼt as dangerous as their other battles against a boss-ranked monster, mostly due to Yuujiʼs impeccable aggro control and evasion. 

But due to its huge HP pool, the battle still took quite a while. So, Yuuji purposefully slowed down their pace to allow Asuna, who had relentlessly attacked the field boss with everything she had, some time to rest and relax. 

He didnʼt mention his intention out loud. But his actions told everything Asuna had to know, and his consideration warmed her heart and cheeks. 

In fact, because of the refreshing breeze that blew across them as they passed through a light forest that sat below the mountain, she could feel the heat more clearly. 

Their relaxed walk soon turned into a light hike as they ascended up a paved road leading to the actual settlement atop the mountain. 

And soon, they finally arrived at the final settlement before the Labyrinth; Taran. 

”Wow… Itʼs bigger than I thought.”

From a distance, the settlement looked like a small village. But perhaps, it only appeared that way due to the massive structure of the Labyrinth looming behind it. 

When they arrived, they could see a number of buildings. Although not as wide as Urbus, it was certainly still larger than Horunka, a village on the first floor. 

Yuuji looked around and approached a rugged, muscular, old man with white beard carrying a log on his shoulder. 

”Excuse me. Apologies for bothering you. May I ask you where I can find an inn, sir?”

The NPC turned towards Yuuji with widened eyes upon seeing his outfit, before a wide grin spread under his thick beard.

”Oh! You must be adventurers, ey? Searching for an inn? Then youʼre in luck! My wife and I own an inn! Come come! Follow me! I just returned from getting some firewood!”

The large man began walking off, carrying the massive log on his shoulder like nothing. 

”Heʼs… quite strong.”

Asuna couldnʼt help but stare in shocked awe.

”Well, if you live in a place like this, youʼd have to be.”

They lived on top of a rock mountain, where theyʼd have to descend the mountain and hike back up just to get some firewood from the forest. 

Although no other person would be capable of carrying an entire tree on their shoulders like the older gentleman did, they must still be strong enough to have this kind of lifestyle. 

Yuuji and Asuna followed the old gentleman to his inn. 

It was one of the larger buildings that had three floors and plenty of room to rent out.

The old gentleman dropped off the massive log on his courtyard before leading Yuuji and Asuna inside, where a gentle-looking middle aged woman welcomed them from behind the receptionist table. 

”Welcome home, dear! Oh, guests?”

”Haha! Yes they are! Will you take care of them while I cut some wood outside?”

”Of course.”

The woman turned towards Yuuji and Asuna with a soft smile and lowered her head slightly. 

”Welcome to the Big Bear Inn. My name is Natasha. How long would you like to stay?”

Yuuji turned towards Asuna.

”Should we do a week for now?”

”Mm.”

Asuna nodded. 

”Hello, we would like to rent two rooms for seven days, please.”

”Very well.”

Yuuji and Asuna paid for each of their rooms in full before the woman placed two keys with a small wooden plank engraved with room numbers. 

”Thank you very much. Here are your keys. Your rooms will be number 101 and 102 respectively. Just head up the stairs and turn right. Theyʼre the first two rooms you come across. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can come down here to have meals prepared by my husband. Theyʼre amazing~”

Yuuji nodded, taking the keys to the 101 room, while Asuna took the 102 room key. 

”Thank you very much. I look forward to tasting your husbandʼs dishes.”

”Thank you.”

”Enjoy your stay~”

The two headed up the stairs and entered their rooms. 

”This is cozy.”

Yuuji smiled softly, looking around the room. 

It was a simple room with a nice clean bed, a desk, a wooden armoire cupboard, and a window overlooking the foot of the mountain and the forest with a short rustic wooden cupboard beneath it. 

He sat down on the bed and scrolled through his inventory, double checking his supplies in case he needed to buy some more food or potions before heading out. 

”Alright. Letʼs go.”

With his supplies still enough for a daysʼ worth of grinding in the labyrinth, he headed out of his room and knocked on Asunaʼs door.

”Asuna, are you ready?”

”Yes! One second!”

Asuna soon opened the door, revealing her figure, still adorned in her armor and rapier. 

And the two began making their way down the stairs, side by side. 

”What were you doing?” 

”I was sorting out my inventory, but when I saw the ingredients we have, I began thinking of what sort of food we can cook while in the labyrinth. So also re-checked the durability of our cookware.”

”Oh, I see.”

As soon as they arrived down at the reception, Natasha turned to them with a warm smile.

”Oh? Leaving already?”

”Yes, we will be heading to the labyrinth.”

Natashaʼs eyes widened slightly, concern and worry reflected in her eyes. 

”I see… Please be careful and return safely.”

”We will. Thank you very much.”

”Thank you, auntie! We will be back.”

Natsha waved as Yuuji and Asuna left the inn and closed the door behind them. 

And a sigh escaped her lips as she smiled helplessly. 

”What an adventurous couple.”

She muttered with nostalgia, reminiscing of her time with her dear husband with closed eyes as she listened to the rhythmic thud and crack of the wood her husband was splitting.

--------------------------------X--------------------------------

”Noooo! Get away from me!!!!”

*MOOOOOOO!* 

*Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!* *Stab!*

*Shatter!*

Yuuji watched silently as the girl, who had always been calm, controlled, and focused during battle, unleashed her strikes with reckless abandon at the monster before them until it shattered into particles of light. 

And only after it truly vanished did she stop, holding her knees as she panted heavily. 

”Asuna… You…”

Yuujiʼs lips twitched at the carnage he witnessed. 

Normally, he would be the one at the center of such carnage. But this time, it was Asuna. 

She had just defeated three high level monsters on her own… driven solely by pure disgust, revulsion, and abhorrence. 

”I didnʼt expect you to get that far…”

”How can I help it! Theyʼre so disgusting! Theyʼre basically Sexual Harassment personified! And why are there so many here?!”

The monsters she had just decimated were Lesser Taurus Striker. A bipedal monster with a muscular upper body that resembles a human body, but with a bullʼs head, legs and tail. It had a large nose ring and wielded an iron hammer. 

But the most jarring feature of its appearance was the fact that it was dressed solely in briefs underwear and a leather-strap ”armor”. 

The moment she saw the first one upon entering the Labyrinth, and it began charging towards them, Asuna tore it down swiftly before Yuuji even did anything. 

”...Well, the theme of this floor had been cows, cattles, bulls, and minotaurs. There are probably more of these Taurus-type monsters here.”

”Ughh… I canʼt believe this… 

She flicked her hair and the two began making their way deeper into the labyrinth, slowly mapping out the twist and turns of the dungeon. 

”Hahaha… Well, I guess I wonʼt have to worry about you getting bothered by perverts.”

Or rather, heʼd pity them. Anyone whoʼd try to bother her would find themselves filled with holes from her rapier. 

Then again, it might be a better fate than if they were to bother Aika, Albedo, or his other girlfriends. 

At best, they wonʼt feel a thing. At worst, theyʼd feel it for eternity. 

”Hmph! These disgusting things are enemies of women!”

”Yes yes. And you did a number on them so fiercely that even Iʼm scared.”

Asuna blushed. 

”I-Itʼs instinctive! My body moved before I knew it!”

”Thatʼs even more scary. Ah~ I hope I wonʼt be stabbed because I walked near you. May be I should move over a little.”

”Yuuji! Iʼll stab you right now!”

Yuuji easily evaded her strikes and dashed away until he found another group of two Lesser Taurus Strikers, two Taurus Ironguards, and a Taurus Ringhurler. 

This time, he moved first and handled the five minotaur-type monsters alone. 

After a few minutes, Yuuji finished studying most of their moves and decided to finish them off. 

”Hm, they give quite a lot of experience points and Cols. Seems like youʼll have your wish to eradicate as many perverts as you wish.”

”Ugh...”

They delve deeper. 

And after a few hours of farming and mapping out the area, Yuuji and Asuna settled down for a break in one of the few safe zones that didnʼt intersect with the patrolling zones of the monsters. 

”Letʼs eat some steak from the Bullbous Bow meat we got!”

”Uhn! Iʼll prepare some sides too.”

”Alright.”

The two split their tasks swiftly and work together like a well-oiled machine. Before long, the stove and cookware had been set and the two quickly prepped the ingredients. 

Cutting the ingredients simply required them to touch the ingredients with a knight. And seasoning them only required them to touch the lid of the spice container and then the ingredient they wanted to season. 

Many aspects of cooking had been simplified, too much in both Yuuji and Asunaʼs opinions. But there was no other way. 

At the very least, ”cooking” didnʼt simply mean clicking a menu option and have the dish appear before them in an instant. 

As they were waiting for the countdown timer of their dinner to reach zero, a message notification came to Yuuji. 

It was from a familiar name. 

[Kirito: ”Yuuji-san, are you free? Iʼve just finished uncovering the blacksmithʼs scam you told me about yesterday.”]

Kirito then explained what had happened. And everything turned out exactly as Yuuji had surmised thanks to Aiʼs information regarding the quick change mod. 

[Yuuji: ”I see. You should consider becoming a detective for scam cases.”]

[Kirito: ”...Please donʼt joke around like that.”]

Yuuji smirked. He could easily imagine Kiritoʼs twitching face when he read his message. 

[Kirito: ”So are you free right now, Yuuji-san?”]

[Yuuji: ”Hm? Iʼm farming in the labyrinth right now. Whatʼs wrong?”]

[Kirito: ”Eh?! The Labyrinth?! The Field boss hadnʼt been defeated right?! Wait, donʼt tell me…”]

[Yuuji: ”I defeated it this morning with Asuna.”]

There was no response for a few moments. Kirito was too shocked to respond and simply stared at his chat box in disbelief.

[Kirito: ”...I canʼt believe you defeated a field boss with just two people.”]

Although not requiring an entire raid party, defeating a field boss normally required at least one full party of high-leveled players. Or two if they wanted to defeat it safely. 

But to defeat it with just two people, not even half of a full party, was something even Kirito didnʼt know he could accomplish. 

Then again, he recalled Yuujiʼs uncanny ability to evade and parry. 

If it was him… then perhaps the field boss would be able to actually deal damage to him. Heʼd be the perfect tank, and Asuna could simply deal damage freely from its flank. 

Having been in a party with her once during the first floor boss raid, Kirito knew well how skilled Asuna was. Although her damage was lower than players of the same level with a different weapon, her speed more than made up for it. She was the fastest swordsman he had ever met, and her DPS was second only to Yuuji, if he were to deal damage. 

If both Yuuji and Asuna were to focus on dealing damage during the first floor boss raid, Kirito could imagine the fight ending much quicker than it did. Though, the number casualties that wouldʼve emerged due to Yuuji not taking aggro so perfectly wouldʼve risen as well.

[Kirito: ”Well… I was planning on inviting you to farm together and plan to defeat the field boss. But now, Iʼll just farm on my own until I can go to the labyrinth.”]

[Yuuji: ”Alright. Good luck. Donʼt get yourself killed, hero.”]

[Kirito: ”Thatʼs my line, Yuuji-san. See you later.”]

Their conversation ended at the perfect time, just as the timer for his cooking reached zero. 

Yuuji immediately plated his dish and handed a plate to Asuna. 

”Who were you messaging?”

Asuna turned to look at him. Their eyes met, without any obstruction to hinder their gaze. 

”It was Kirito. He wanted to invite us to defeat the field boss together. But since we defeated it already, he said heʼll be farming until he can get to the labyrinth.”

”Hm, I see.”

Asuna turned her gaze back at the beef soup in front of her and smiled with excitement. 

”Mm~ It smells pretty good!”

”If it was in reality, it wouldʼve been better.”

”Oh really~?”

”Of course.”

Yuuji smiled proudly, and Asuna gave him a playful look of doubt.

”Hm~? Well, letʼs see.”

She slowly savored each and every bite, and Yuuji followed suit. 

Conversions flowed smoothly in between bites. And as they rested, in stolen moments, Asunaʼs eyes couldnʼt help but gravitate towards Yuuji. Her lips curled into a smile she didnʼt realize. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter~! Please comment your thoughts~! I would love to hear what you think about it~!!!! 

Also, if youʼd like to read additional chapters ahead and get a pdf version (Light & Dark), please feel free to check out my at ~! 

Thank you~!