Faster Than Anyone

During their battle with the Ruin Kobold Troopers, Kirito was amazed by Asuna's amazing speed and grace, comparing it to a meteor he had seen years ago while playing a game. After an opening was made in the ranks of the kobolds, Kirito told Asuna to run to the safe area, but Asuna continued attacking the kobolds until she passed out from exhaustion.

Some time later, Asuna woke up in the middle of a grass field outside the Labyrinth. As she got up, she noticed Kirito sitting calmly next to a nearby tree. As Asuna asked Kirito why he had saved her, he revealed that it would have been a waste of map data to have let her die, accidentally mentioning that once she passed out, he could do anything he wanted to her body, like manipulating her menu to get her map data; however, Asuna misunderstood Kirito's intentions and was about to strike him with her rapier.

At that moment, Asuna's stomach started growling, making Kirito burst into laughter. While Asuna was pondering why was there a need to eat in-game if it had no effect on their real life bodies, Kirito took out two loaves of black bread and a bottle of cream from his inventory and gave one loaf and some cream to Asuna to pay her back for her map data. Although Asuna doubted Kirito's taste at first due to the bread being the cheapest one from the store, after adding cream to it, she finished off the bread in a sheer second while enjoying its taste. When asked whether she wanted another, Asuna denied by saying that she did not survive this long so that she could eat delicious food, but did so so that she would not have to rot in the Town of Beginnings and could instead fight for her existence and die satisfied, feeling that it was impossible to clear the castle if 2,000 people had died already while the 1st Floor was not yet cleared. At that moment, the bells from the nearby town of Tolbana rang, announcing that it was already 3'o clock. Kirito then told Asuna that they should be going to town for the for the boss strategy meeting.

At Tolbana, Kirito and Asuna split up, agreeing to meet up at the amphitheatre at 4 o'clock. Meanwhile, Asuna was approached by Argo, who offered a discount at purchasing information on Kirito and also mentioned that she might spread a new rumour about a certain red riding hood hunting with the black wolf. Asuna quickly denied such a rumour, saying that she had only just met the guy, so Argo agreed to keep the rumour for herself for now, saying that it might serve her in case she needed to blackmail her. Asuna then asked Argo whether she had information on Kirito's history, leading to Argo to tease Asuna for asking a person's history before anything else. Argo then revealed that as long as Asuna offered a good price, she would not be stingy about giving Asuna the information she desired, but warned her that the act of purchasing information would immediately become new information to sell. Asuna then suddenly changed her mind, saying that she had no interest in that person.

Later, when Asuna arrived at the meeting, she was surprised by the number of people who had gathered, though she remarked that they would probably die. Just then, Kirito, who had just come to the meeting as well, explained that the people who gathered here did not do so in the spirit of self-sacrifice, though mentioning that some people might be like that. He explained that most people in the meeting were there because they had a fear of not falling behind the others and not witnessing the battles themselves. Hearing that, Asuna asked whether it was similar to not wanting falling behind the top 10 in school and the confused Kirito replied that it might be a similar case. As the meeting began with Diavel thanking those for attending, Asuna began wondering about spending one's life chasing after something intangible without a clear goal and, in the end, never having thought about it. Asuna then set a goal for herself: to beat the boss of the 1st Floor and to keep going until the 100th Floor, moving forward faster than anyone else.

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