Asuna sighed and walked toward Illustrious, saying, "Why don't you touch my chin? Then you'll know whether I'm a ghost or not."
"Waaah!" Watching Asuna suddenly run over, Illustrious was so scared she closed her eyes, afraid to look at Asuna.
Seeing that Illustrious didn't dare look at her, Asuna had no choice but to grab Illustrious's right hand and place it on her own chin. "Touch it and see if I have a chin."
"Eek! It's smooth and soft... Wait, no! It has substance, it has a chin. So you really did come back to life! That's great, Asuna!" Illustrious happily hugged Asuna.
Hearing Illustrious say that she had a chin, Kijo Kizuki and Sanba Ako, who had been hiding in the corner, bent over and secretly observing Asuna, immediately stood up and walked over to Asuna.
"Actually, I knew all along that you weren't a ghost. Come, let Mommy give you a hug." Kijo Kizuki said solemnly.
"Mommy! I'm sorry for making you worry." Asuna let go of Illustrious and ran to hug her mother.
Feeling the person in her arms leave her to embrace her own mother, Illustrious looked lonely. It was like, once she had her mom, she forgot about her.
"That's great. Thank goodness the Young Lady is safe and sound, otherwise we wouldn't know what to do!" Sanba Ako said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"You have the nerve to say that? It was all caused by your person. Stabbing the employer—is that how you act as bodyguards?" Illustrious said with an angry face.
"I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry. From now on, our company will definitely be strict in selecting people. I guarantee we won't let someone like Muraki Xin Er in again." Sanba Ako said apologetically.
"Ouch! That hurts like hell! That bitch, next time I'll definitely kill her." The unconscious Muraki Xin Er slowly stood up and said.
Kijo Kizuki gave Sanba Ako a look. Sanba Ako immediately understood, and in the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of Muraki Xin Er and subdued him in a few quick moves.
"Senior Ako, why are you grabbing me!" Muraki Xin Er said, wincing in pain.
"Do you even have to ask? You used a knife to injure someone and almost killed the Young Lady. I am now taking you to the police station for attempted murder." Sanba Ako said very angrily.
"Senior Ako, don't be like this. We're from the same company. Please, let me go! I won't dare do it again." Muraki Xin Er begged again.
Sanba Ako ignored Muraki Xin Er's pleas. "Shut up! You still have the nerve to say you're from the seal International Security Group? You've completely disgraced us. Don't say another word. Save what you have to say for the police."
Illustrious watched the two leave, then turned her head to say to Asuna, "Asuna! How is your wound? Does it still hurt? How about we go to the hospital for a check-up?"
"Illustrious is right. I've already called an ambulance; they'll be here soon," Kijo Kizuki agreed.
"There's no need! I feel much better now. Look, my wound is completely gone." Asuna didn't think she was sick, so she didn't want to go to the hospital.
Illustrious reached out and touched Asuna's chest. "Huh! It really has disappeared. What is going on with you? You were clearly run through by a dagger. Even if human regenerative abilities are strong, they wouldn't be strong enough to heal a fatal wound in just a few minutes! Could it be that you're no longer human? Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
"Where are your hands wandering? You're really asking for a beating! How dare you say I'm not human? You're the one who isn't human!" Asuna said angrily, grabbing Illustrious by the ear.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have touched you like that. When I said you weren't human, I actually meant that you might have become a superhuman, different from those ordinary people." Illustrious quickly begged for mercy.
Asuna let go of Illustrious and put a hand to her chin. "Now that you mention it, I have that feeling too. So, I've turned into a superhuman?"
"I don't know about being a superhuman, but won't you find out if you go to the hospital for a check-up?" Illustrious was still a bit worried about Asuna's health. Although her wound appeared to be gone, there might inevitably be some internal injuries that couldn't be seen with the naked eye and could only be detected by hospital diagnostic equipment.
"The ambulance is here! Get on quickly, we're going to the hospital for a full body check-up." Kijo Kizuki pulled Asuna toward the ambulance.
"Mom! I don't want to go to the hospital! Illustrious, save me!" Asuna called out to Illustrious for help.
"Be good! Asuna, a full body check-up is nothing. The most painful part is just getting your blood drawn." Illustrious pushed on Asuna's back.
"I don't want to! I just don't want to have my blood drawn. They'll definitely use a needle!" Asuna struggled desperately.
With one pulling and one pushing, by the time they walked halfway, the paramedics, unable to watch any longer, simply grabbed a stretcher and carried Asuna onto the vehicle. The ambulance's siren blared continuously as it sped toward the hospital.
After arriving at the hospital and undergoing various check-ups, the results showed that everything was normal. This made Illustrious feel very strange. Clearly, their strength had increased and they possessed powerful regenerative abilities—how could it be considered normal when things were so abnormal? It seemed that ordinary medical care was unable to detect the abnormalities in their bodies!
...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye. During this half month, Illustrious had stayed by Asuna's side as a bodyguard, and the two went out every day to kill monsters and strengthen their abilities.
There were still many monsters outside. The government was eliminating monsters every day, but there was no visible decrease. Later, after investigation and statistics, people discovered that these monsters actually maintained a constant number, leaving people at a loss as to how to wipe them out.
To completely eradicate these monsters, the United Nations established a special investigation and action Organization named Organization.
Organization discovered that these monsters were from sword art online. The large monsters were the BOSS of each floor. There were a total of 100 BOSS distributed across the world. Among them, the first country, Neon, had 21 BOSS, the second country, Eagle Country, had 8 BOSS, and the third, Mao Xiong Country, had 5 BOSS.
In addition to discovering that those monsters were from sword art online, Organization also found that these sword art online players possessed superpowers—or rather, it couldn't be called superpowers; it could only be said that they had become different from ordinary people. They possessed super strength and powerful bodily regenerative abilities. These sword art online players were called Rulers by Organization.
There were 9,453 Rulers worldwide. A research institute in Eagle Country dissected one Ruler and found that there was no difference between his body and that of a normal person.
However, Rulers possessed super attack power and immortality. When humans bombed a Ruler with a nuclear weapon, they discovered that the Ruler didn't die and revived in less than three minutes.
Although Rulers were very strong, they were not invincible. Once they were killed by a monster, they would die. Monsters had a strong appetite for the flesh of Rulers; every time they saw a Ruler, they would abandon attacks on ordinary people and prioritize attacking the Ruler.
There were only over nine thousand Rulers, which was insignificant compared to the six billion humans. Because Rulers were special and monsters had a stronger desire to attack Rulers than humans, some ordinary people believed that Rulers were the main reason monsters attacked cities. This group of people believed that only if the Rulers died could the world return to peace.
Although Rulers were ostracized by some ordinary people, they also received the love and support of the majority, because most of these Rulers were keen on killing monsters.
The head of the Organization Japan branch, Kikuoka, was observing fifteen Rulers using fifteen screens. Among them, three Rulers received special attention from Kikuoka because their current strength was in the top three: the first was Illustrious, the second was Kirito, and the third was Alice.
"Report, Director! After a long investigation, we still haven't found Akihiko Kayaba. It's as if he has disappeared from this world; we have lost all trace of him," Kikuoka's assistant, Higa Takeru, reported.
"Deputy Director, what do you think?" Kikuoka turned to say to Jinno Rinko.
"How should I know? I don't know any criminal as deranged as that, wanting to imprison players in a virtual world." Jinno Rinko knew Akihiko Kayaba's secret residence. She had been to the three-story house in the suburbs to look for him, only to find that he had disappeared. Now, she didn't know where to look.
Jinno Rinko and Higa Takeru were both key development members of sword art online and were intimately familiar with its monsters. When it came to selecting personnel for the Organization Japan branch, Kikuoka was clever enough to choose them as his subordinates.
"No way! You're Akihiko Kayaba's girlfriend; how could you not know him? If you're joking, this joke isn't funny at all," Kikuoka said, narrowing his eyes. "Akihiko Kayaba is the chief designer of sword art online. Anyone who says these monsters appearing in the world has nothing to do with him would have to be a fool to believe it!"
"What do you mean by that? We only joined your Organization because we wanted to eliminate the monsters and protect the world. Are you doubting our loyalty?" Jinno Rinko said with a sharp gaze.
Jinno Rinko and Higa Takeru stared at him with great displeasure. After all, they were also key developers of sword art online, and their identities were quite sensitive.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them accomplices of Akihiko Kayaba, but they were innocent. They hadn't expected Akihiko Kayaba to be so crazy as to want to imprison all players in the sword art online world to play a death game.
Fortunately, a large meteorite destroyed Akihiko Kayaba's plan, which made them feel slightly better. The monsters in sword art online were designed by them; if they hadn't designed these monsters, perhaps the monsters of sword art online wouldn't have appeared in the world.
When Kikuoka invited them to join the Organization, they joined without hesitation to make amends for their past deeds, as well as to contribute to eliminating monsters and protecting the world.
Seeing their dissatisfied gazes, Kikuoka realized this was a crisis of trust between superior and subordinate. If things went wrong, they might leave the Organization. Kikuoka softened his tone. "No, no, no, I am not doubting your loyalty. After the monsters of sword art online appeared in the world, Akihiko Kayaba disappeared. He is definitely suspicious. But you and Higa Takeru are different; not only did you not disappear, you joined the Organization. This shows that the monsters appearing in the world have nothing to do with you."
"That's more like it. We are your subordinates; if you suspect us, then there is no reason for us to stay here." Jinno Rinko said, her expression becoming calm.
"Regarding the captain of the Organization combat team, who are you planning to have take the position?" Jinno Rinko glanced at Kikuoka and asked.
"I have already decided that this woman will be it." Kikuoka said, pointing to a blue-haired girl on one of the screens.
"Why? Wouldn't it be better to have Illustrious do it? After all, she is the strongest." Jinno Rinko said.
Kikuoka raised his right hand and shook it from side to side. "No, no, no, Illustrious is not suitable to be the captain. Judging by her words and actions, she is a lazy person. Even killing monsters is something she only does when forced by Asuna."
"But Alice is different. She is very diligent; not only does she actively kill monsters, but she is also outgoing. Most importantly, she constantly looks for companions to kill monsters with, so she is very suitable to be the captain."
"Then let's go contact her now!" Higa Takeru said.
Kikuoka stopped Higa Takeru and said, "No need. I already invited her yesterday, and she agreed. However, she has one request: she wants to choose the team members herself."
"So you agreed to this request?" Jinno Rinko said.
Kikuoka nodded and said, "I agreed! Why wouldn't I? Isn't it great to have someone help us select the combat team members? This way we have more time to investigate. Besides, I trust Alice's judgment. She also said the combat team's name is Red Dragon Knights. Isn't that name cool?"
"What a tacky name! So, when did she say she could assemble the team to clear the East Capital's first-floor Boss Kobold, Ilfang?" Jinno Rinko asked.
"She said in half a month!" Kikuoka replied.
After answering Rinko, Kikuoka focused on the screen where Illustrious was. Watching Illustrious lying down holding her phone, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. He wondered what kind of waves this Illustrious would stir up in the world in the future; it was truly something to look forward to!
In Asuna's room, Illustrious was lying on the bed, logging into Line on her phone. Beside her, Asuna saw that Illustrious had logged in and also logged into Line on her computer. The two simultaneously entered the sword art online chat group.
[Illustrious is online!]
[Asuna is online!]
Klein: Great, the two beauties of sword art online are online! Ah! I'm so excited! Hehehe!
Lisbeth: Officer, there's a pervert here!
Agil (Group Owner): "Klein, watch your language, or I'll kick you out of the group."
Klein: "Don't! I was wrong."
Silica: "Illustrious! And Asuna, good afternoon! Thank you both for saving me yesterday, otherwise I might have been killed."
Illustrious: "It was nothing. How are you now? Are you okay?"
Silica: "My body is fine, thanks for your concern."
Asuna: "Silica, you'd better go to the hospital! I saw the wound on your leg, it was quite serious."
Silica: "No need! The wound healed completely after three hours, not even a scar left."
Klein: "Nani! Nani! Silica! You were hurt yesterday? What's going on? Who bullied you? Tell big brother Klein, I'll go teach them a lesson for you."
Kirito: "That was the first-floor Boss Kobold, Ilfang."
Klein: "..."
Lisbeth: "What's wrong? Didn't you say you were going to teach him a lesson? Why are you quiet now?"
Agil (Group Owner): "Alright! Lisbeth, don't bully Klein! Even Illustrious and Kirito couldn't kill the Boss Kobold Ilfang when they teamed up; they could only hold on until Asuna took Silica away and then retreated. If you send him to fight the Boss Kobold Ilfang alone, isn't that just sending him to his death?"
Daga: "So, what actually happened yesterday! Silica, why did you act so recklessly to provoke the Boss? Isn't that just asking for death?"
Diavel: "At this stage, it takes at least five hundred Rulers to kill the Boss Kobold Ilfang. It's best not to provoke the Boss alone."
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