owlsbooks Chapter 595: Murder in the Circle
Chapter 595: Murder in the Circle
Chapter 595: Murder in the Circle
After clearing the 56th floor, the members of the strategy team seemed to have grasped the key and broke through the 57th floor three days later, and the 58th floor a week later.
Normally, the raiders would conquer one floor every ten days. But considering that a lot of time was wasted in holding the World No. 1 Martial Arts Tournament, this was considered a normal speed.
And now, Kobayashi and Aqua were strolling on the 57th floor.
Let me be clear up front that this is not being lazy.
This large street, which is only two floors away from the current front line, will inevitably become the main base and tourist attraction of the strategy team. In the evening, it will become very lively because of the many players returning from the upper floors or coming here from the lower floors to have dinner.
Considering that everyone in the guild has become a celebrity, they should not be here, but the stupid goddess said she had found a particularly hidden restaurant and insisted on going there, so Kobayashi had no choice but to accompany her, hoping that nothing unexpected would happen.
After passing through the portal, they arrived at the main road on the 57th floor. Kobayashi and Aqua walked side by side on the unusually spacious main road, and saw many players who passed by with their eyes wide open, which was really interesting.
No wonder they have that expression.
The actual ruler of the Axis Cult, and Aqua, who is loved by many players, these two celebrities will attract attention wherever they appear.
The stupid goddess didn't care about anything. She was skipping along the main road and greeting the passing players from time to time.
She likes the feeling of being sought after the most.
It was only a five-minute walk, but it took her half an hour. If Kobayashi hadn't forcibly taken her away, she would have performed her talent on the spot.
Came to a larger restaurant.
Kobayashi pushed open the revolving door first, and Aqua quickly came in. At this time, she and the NPC waiter came forward to greet them.
Under the guidance of the NPC waiter, Kobayashi held Aqua's hand and the two moved in the store which was starting to get a little crowded. During the time, they could still feel several gazes coming at them.
Came to a more remote corner.
Aqua unceremoniously ordered two aperitifs, as well as appetizers, main courses, and desserts. I really suspected that she was not here to eat, but to drink.
Spending money lavishly...
Fortunately, Sato Kazuma developed the guild very well, and they had a lot of pocket money. In addition, Xiaolin often earned a lot of money by killing monsters in the wild, so they could order so much food without worrying about it. If it was a player who lived a tight life, this meal would definitely cost a lot of money.
"Xiao Lin Xiao Lin, the wine here is delicious! Come and try it!"
"Yes Yes Yes."
Xiaolin took a sip.
The taste is pretty good, ranking high among the wines I have drunk, but it is not as good as the rare wines that can increase attributes obtained by completing quests.
By the way, has the silly goddess been drinking a little too much recently?
According to Sato Kazuma, Aqua discovered that the liquids she touched in the game would not be purified into pure water, so she was so happy that she drank a lot every day, and once she even filled the bathtub with champagne.
Kobayashi had only seen such extravagant practices in real life.
Sato Kazuma scolded her harshly.
It wasn't because the stupid goddess poured champagne into the bathtub, but because the stupid goddess didn't call him when she was enjoying herself, and then the two of them did it again.
In response to this, Sato Kazuma said that if he hadn't enjoyed it in real life, why couldn't he enjoy it in the game?
While the two were enjoying dinner, the door of the restaurant was pushed open again.
This is the 57th floor. Players from the upper and lower floors will come here, so it's nothing unusual. But at the same time, the players who can come to the 57th floor are all top players, so there is a high probability of meeting familiar people.
This time he saw someone familiar.
Kirito and Asuna.
These two were also very famous players. As soon as they came in, many people looked at them. Although their faces looked calm, Xiao Lin could still see that they were a little nervous.
"I was wondering why the two of them weren't leveling up on the 59th floor today. Turns out they were on a date."
"what? What?"
The stupid goddess with her mouth full of food was like a hamster. She was a little confused when she heard what Xiaolin said.
"Nothing, just eat."
"Oh."
Feeling treated perfunctorily, Aqua ate the food on the plate again with relish.
Kobayashi didn't pay attention to them all the time, nor did he have the intention of going up to say hello. After all, no one likes to be disturbed on a date.
She nodded in satisfaction when she saw Kirito pulling out a chair for Asuna in a gentlemanly manner. But when she found out that the two of them didn't even order an aperitif, she couldn't help but curl her lips. Is there something wrong with your brain if you abide by the law in the game that prohibits drinking before the age of 20?
The two quickly got used to the gazes of the people around them and started chatting.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but both of them had smiles on their faces. Seeing the good atmosphere, Kobayashi nodded in satisfaction.
atmosphere?
Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment.
Looking at Aqua, who was still devouring her food and didn't look like a goddess at all, I couldn't help but cover my face with my hands.
Why is there no atmosphere here?
And at this moment——
“…Wa ...
Suddenly, a very terrifying scream was heard from a distant place.
Aqua's body trembled, and even her eating stopped. Kobayashi frowned, and many players in the restaurant subconsciously put their hands on their weapons, including Kirito and Asuna.
This is the quality that high-level players should have.
When an accident occurs, get into action immediately.
I don't know what Asuna said, but after Kirito nodded, the two of them stood up with serious expressions, kicked away the chairs and ran to the door.
Kobayashi also grabbed the stupid goddess' wrist and forcibly dragged her away regardless of her cries.
Just as he stepped out of the restaurant and came to the road outside, he once again heard a heart-wrenching scream.
At this time, Kirito and Asuna in front turned their heads at the same time and saw Krillin and Aqua behind them.
"Krillin, Aqua?"
"Yes. We'll talk about the details later. Let's go over there first."
Krillin interrupted Kirito and looked at the square across a building. After exchanging a glance, they nodded and sprinted south with all their might.
The four of them ran to the square one after another.
What came into view was an unbelievable sight.
On the north side of the square, there stood a stone building that resembled a church, and there - in the display window in the center of the second floor of the building, a man was hanging by a rope extending from the window!
This person is certainly not an NPC.
Just look at the equipment he's wearing.
He was covered in heavy armor and had a large helmet on his head. Although the rope was completely stuck in the armor at the base of his neck, the players gathered in the square did not scream in terror for this reason.
In SAO, there is no possibility of suffocation due to rope props strangling the neck.
The source of everyone's fear was a bloody spear that was deeply embedded in the man's chest. The man grabbed the handle of the spear with both hands, and his mouth kept opening and closing. He opened his eyes wide as if he wanted to say something, but unfortunately he was too far away from the others and couldn't hear anything.
And during this time, the wound on his chest continued to spurt and flash with red light effect like blood.
In other words, this man's HP is constantly decreasing. This is a continuous damage feature that only some penetrating weapons have.
It seems that the Blood Spear is a weapon that is enhanced for continuous damage.
Kirito recovered from his momentary surprise and shouted, "Pull it out quickly!"
The man glanced at him briefly.
Then he slowly moved his hands to pull out the gun, but the weapon stuck deep inside his body didn't seem to be so easy to move. Of course, it was also possible that the fear of death prevented him from exerting any strength.
The man was hung on the wall, at least ten meters above the ground.
Even Xiao Lin couldn't touch him with the silk thread.
At this moment, the man wearing a large helmet suddenly stared at a certain point in the sky with his eyes wide open, and everyone immediately realized that he was looking at his own health value. To be more precise, he was looking at the moment when his health value returned to zero.
Amid the screams and surprises of the people in the square, the man seemed to shout something.
Immediately afterwards——
Blue flashes flashed in the night sky accompanied by countless sounds like breaking glass. The ropes that had lost their bindings crashed into the wall. The fallen blood-red spear made a heavy metallic sound as it pierced into the stone slabs on the ground.
The screams from so many players even drowned out the peaceful BGM in the street area.
Kirito opened his mouth.
He really wanted to use the prize for the martial arts tournament winner - the resurrection crystal - right now, but he didn't know the man's ID and couldn't find it out in the limited time (ten seconds). He could only look up blankly at the exploding polygonal fragments.
Although he was greatly shocked, he still tried his best to open his eyes wide and look at the vast space around the church.
He was looking for something that was bound to appear.
——Declaration of the duel winner!
This is the main street, which means it is still within the effective area of the crime ban order. If the HP of the players in this place is damaged or even killed, there is only one possibility. That is to accept the duel in the complete win-lose mode and lose.
There is no other possibility!
When the duelist wins, a system window with a declaration of victory will appear in front of him, allowing him to know who killed the man.
But the system window did not appear.
There was no trace of it anywhere around the square, and it would only appear for a short thirty seconds.
So Kirito shouted, "Everyone, help me find the window showing the winner of the duel!"
He shouted loudly to drown out the commotion, and the other players immediately understood his intention and began to look for windows around them. However, no one made a sound.
Fifteen seconds have passed.
Is it inside a building?
As I was thinking this, Asuna and Aqua suddenly poked their heads out of the second-floor window and shouted, "Xiaolin, there's no one up here!"
"There is no system window here, and there is no one inside."
how come……
No, thirty seconds have passed now.
Kobayashi and Kirito looked at each other, then they passed by the nuns who lived on the first floor of the church and climbed up the stairs deep inside the building.
There are four rooms on the second floor, which are somewhat similar to single rooms in a hotel.
The difference is that the four rooms here cannot be locked, and when the two passed the first three rooms and used the search skill at the same time, both their eyes and skills found nothing.
The two came to the fourth room where the problem occurred.
Asuna and Aqua were still standing at the window. Asuna was using her search skill to look for clues, while the stupid goddess was playing with the ropes in the room.
Of the four people present, two had frowns on their faces, one had a calm expression, and one had a stupid look on his face.
Xiaolin was the first to speak: "There is no one else in the church."
"Could it be a cloak with additional concealment capabilities?"
"No. Even the front line has not dropped items that can invalidate my search skills. And for the sake of caution, I have asked players to block the entrance of the church. Even if it is transparent, it will be automatically detected by players. And this building has no back door, and the only room with windows is here."
Kirito answered Asuna's question and explained his careful arrangements.
"I see."
Asuna nodded, pointed to the table in the room, and said, "Come and take a look at this. There seems to be something wrong with it."
She was referring to a simple wooden table.
What’s not simple is that this is furniture that cannot be moved, it is a wooden table that is fixed in the game.
On one of the table corners, there is a rope that looks quite sturdy although it is tied. Although it is said to be tied, it is not really tied by hand. Instead, it is connected to the table and fixed together with a system pop-up window of the rope.
Once tied, the rope will never break or loosen unless a heavy object exceeding the rope's durability is hung on it or it is cut with a knife.
The shiny black rope spanned about two meters across the room and hung directly from the south window to the outside.
Although it cannot be seen from here, its front end is formed into a ring, and the neck of the man in full armor just now was hanging on this ring.
"Um……"
Xiao Lin pondered for a moment and said, "Based on the general situation, the player in armor should have tied the rope to the opponent, then inserted the spear into his chest, and finally put the rope around the victim's neck and pushed him down... Is that right?"
"That's about it."
"But there are many doubts about this duel."
Xiao Lin said, "First, although I don't know the man's ID, he must be very strong to be able to reach the 57th floor. However, he was pierced through the chest with a spear... If he had just died like this, it would have been fine, but he was still hung outside, and it took a long time before he died because his health points reached zero."
“No, this method can still be done.”
"Kirito, do you know how?"
"There are various abnormal properties in SAO, such as poison and paralysis... I see, that's how it is! He paralyzed the armored man first, and when he was unable to move, he moved here, and then used continuous penetrating damage to kill him. This means that this is not necessarily the first crime scene, and there is a reason why we can't find the winning window!"
Kirito suddenly realized something and looked a little excited.
Asuna still frowned slightly: "That's true, but what happened just now was an internal duel, but we don't know who did it, why, or how they did it..."
Outside the window, there was a constant commotion from players in the square.
It seems that they should have also noticed the unusualness of this incident.
Asuna said, "We can't just leave this unattended. If someone really discovers the PK skills in the circle, we must quickly find a way and announce the means of counterattack, otherwise it will definitely cause a big commotion."
"...I agree." Kirito raised his hand quickly, obviously he also felt that this matter was not good.
Kobayashi shrugged.
"You all said so."
As representatives of the Axis Church, Krillin and Aqua could not ignore this matter no matter what.
"Then let's be detectives."
"you're right."
The four of them put their hands together.
"By the way, speaking of detectives, what famous works do you like?"
"Ace Attorney." "The Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes."
The two people gave different answers.
But they were talking about very well-known works, just in different fields.
Xiaolin blinked.
"Really? I like Danganronpa."
(End of this chapter)