With Leafa joining the party, Ako was very welcoming because she could slack off even more.
Only Mika was neither welcoming nor rejecting. She silently followed behind Kaito, her eyes fixedly staring at him, while inwardly hoping no other women would join the party.
Note, women.
"Um... Kaito-nii, can you tell me your real name? My real name is Kirigaya Suguha..."
An hour later, the four of them had quickly cleared a wolf spawn area.
Kaito's strength was naturally unquestionable. He stood at the front, easily killing several wolves in a row.
The only pity was that his weapon's attack power was a bit low, requiring many consecutive hits to kill. Plus, the game character's speed attribute restricted him, preventing him from displaying his basic skill of tens of strikes per second.
2.5 strikes per second was the current maximum speed.
Leafa, on the other hand, could do 2 strikes per second, and her skilled and precise strikes earned a slight nod of approval from Kaito.
Unfortunately, Ako as expected persisted in her slacking mission, just picking up loot.
Mika was a bit better, but her combat ability... could only be described as typical for a newbie.
"So, want to know my real identity?"
Kaito smiled.
Leafa was indeed very curious about who Kaito really was. Possessing such powerful swordsmanship and superior footwork, he was definitely a kendo master, even a grandmaster!
If so, Leafa also wanted to get to know him offline, to see if she could learn some techniques.
After all, after she became champion, her current instructor said he could no longer help her. She either needed to find a true master or practice on her own, exploring her own path of the sword.
At Leafa's current level, those masters at ordinary kendo dojos were not qualified to teach her.
"Yes. Three months ago, after I won the championship in the national youth tournament, my kendo started to stagnate. I've reached a plateau. Plus, my original instructor said he can no longer guide me, so I need a truly powerful master to guide me."
"I see. But my tuition is very high."
'Leafa had become a kendo champion?'
'Even if it was the youth category, and probably mixed gender, it still showed Leafa's powerful talent and ability.'
'In the original work, at 15, she was already in the national top 8, striving for the championship. There was no reason a year later she wouldn't be champion, especially with the plot having changed so much.'
"That's okay. I got a lot of prize money from winning the championship, and I also took on some endorsements. I still have a lot of money!"
Leafa was both nervous and excited to hear Kaito's words.
Whether Kaito was a master, Leafa had figured out by silently following and fighting beside him for an hour.
Both were limited by the game's character attributes, yet Kaito could calmly and effortlessly strike 2.5 times per second, while she could only manage 2 times with her utmost effort.
If he wasn't a master, then who was!?
A pro gamer?
Was there a pro gamer stronger than her brother?
Although her brother Kirito had slapped his own face, the name [Black Swordsman] was very well-known in the gaming circle, even Leafa, who was outside that circle, knew about it. People said his swordsmanship in the game had reached an invincible level, even suspected of cheating.
If there were competitions, Kirito might become a professional player on the spot and easily win first place!
But...
The swordsmanship displayed by the master before her really had nothing to do with the game at all.
No game-assisted combat, no use of any sword skills, all true personal ability!
"Actually, my name is what I told you. I didn't change it."
"As for tuition... you can't afford it."
"But during the time we play the game, how much you can learn depends on my mood and your comprehension."
'Sigh...'
'Alright, someone's jealous again.'
Kaito glanced calmly at Mika and reached out to gently pat her hand away.
'Sigh, if it were Sayuri or the others here, maybe it would be different...'
'Uuhh… No, it would probably be the same.'
While they could fight amongst themselves, but in the end, they were still chat group members.
But Leafa and the others weren't; strictly speaking, they were rivals!
So, if a rival approaches Kaito, they will undoubtedly unite and act together!
No wonder, no wonder from the moment they met, Mika's gaze on him had increased, completely ignoring the scenery of the other world.
But—!
How could Kaito possibly stagnate because of a small obstacle like this!
He'll worry about it when things go too far. Until then, he'll keep riding the wave.
"I understand. But no matter what, I'll still call you Master!"
Leafa was a bit surprised that Kaito's ID was his real name, and also that there was a master like Kaito she hadn't heard of.
But maybe she was just ignorant?
Although he wasn't willing to accept her as an apprentice, being able to learn a bit on the side was already very satisfying.
From now on, when she logged in, she would definitely team up with Kaito to adventure. Only then could she learn more!
"Whatever you want."
Regarding titles, Kaito had no other thoughts. In the end, it was uncertain how often he would be online.
Besides, he didn't have a travel card to go to this world.
How could online compare to the real thing!!
Oh, this refers to practicing kendo.
"Speaking of which, it's almost dinner time. We should log off soon and team up again online tonight."
"That's true. I understand, Master."
Checking the time, it was now 6 o'clock.
The game's time was synchronized with Japan's time, so exactly 4 hours had passed.
Then...
A familiar scene occurred.
Even though Leafa wasn't familiar with the game, she knew the basic operations.
But on her system interface, she couldn't find the [Logout] option button at all!
On Kaito's side?
Poof, it disappeared.
But refreshing again, it reappeared.
After refreshing several more times, it still existed. It seemed he could log off anytime, including Mika and Ako.
'It seemed that Gacha products were indeed high-quality.'
'No tricks were played in this regard.'
'But...'
'The number of online players broke through 20 million, now even more...'
'Kayaba Akihiko, you really know how to play.'
'And you've become even bolder!'
'From about 10,000 people, you forcefully increased it to over 20 million!'
'Risky, sure enough, choosing the path of "the flesh is weak, the machine ascends", you still followed your original path, converting your consciousness into data, achieving eternal life in the ocean of the internet, right!'
'Only this time, you did it in advance. No need to hide. On the first day, you just ascended.'
"Ma-Master... I, I can't seem to log off..."