Chapter 361

Spring was here once again.

Although the life Players led in Aincrad were full of hardship, two years already went by before realizing it.

Within two years, the Clearers kept advancing throughout the Floors in Aincrad, and they were currently at the 74th Floor. In other words, about three—fourths out of the total 100 Floor has been cleared.

Although the remaining quarter wouldn’t be cleared that fast, most of the Players now have come to believe that clearing the game and returning to the real world was totally possible.

During this time, several changes have occurred within the Clearers. To be more precise, there were four noticeable changes.

The first was the Clearers’ number.

More and more Players joined the Clearers’ rank as time passed. There were about seven hundred Players within the Clearers now, which was about nearly one-tenth of the total Players, and of course, it was all because of Rozen.

After two years, Rozen’s leadership was as solid as ever. There wasn’t a single casualty yet under Rozen’s leadership so far.

In addition, Rozen used Divine Dragon Alliance’s confiscated resources to cultivate potential Players, steadily increasing the Clearers’ number as time passed.

The second change was regarding Kirito.

As mentioned before, there was a medium difficulty increment every 10 Floors, and once the Clearers reached the 70th Floor, the Floor Boss Raid became exponentially more difficult.

Despite having tried his best, the situation back then was quite dire. Kirito didn’t want to risk it, so he had to use his Dual Blade Skill in front of everyone.

Being the second Unique Skill user dragged Kirito into the spotlight whether he wanted or not, especially among the Clearers.

Other Players also began to debate which one was stronger between Kirito and Heathcliff.

In addition, Red Wings also basked in the spotlight because of Kirito, and the rumors about Knights of the Blood replacing Red Wings as the strongest guild gradually subsided.

The third change was none other than Rozen.

To be precise, it was Rozen’s weapon.

Rozen used it once again during the 60th Floor’s Boss Raid. The beautiful yet ridiculously strong sword obviously startled all Clearers.

Thanks to this sword, Rozen swooped down all Floor Boss LA all the way until the 73rd Floor Boss.

Even the high hp and defense Floor Bosses was like a speed-type Boss, which had low defense before Rozen’s sword.

The Clearers even suspected that it was a bug at first, but then they realized that Rozen’s weapon was just too powerful.

Of course, it was not because of the sword alone. Thanks to Rozen’s high-leveled Sword Skill and Eye of the Mind, he could trigger a critical strike anytime he wanted, enhancing the damage dealt even further.

In any case, Dark Repulser became Rozen’s trademark following Saichou and Hanachou.

And the last change was regarding Asuna.

Ever since the 60th Floor Boss Raid Strategy Meeting, Asuna somehow has stopped suggesting ideas that Rozen would obviously object to.

She also no longer debated Rozen about every little thing. She suddenly became a little meeker and no longer as cold as before, and as time passed, she became more gentle and smiled more often.

Because of that, her popularity rose through the roof, and her fans kept increasing.

Obviously, Rozen, who noticed this change, was startled.

“What’s with the sudden change? Did she hit her head or something?”

As dense as he was, Rozen didn’t simply keep this in his head but ask Asuna straight out. Of course, it ended with Asuna’s glare and her abrupt leave without saying a word.

Rozen was dumbfounded. He would never expect that his accidental interference would bring about such a good result.

Years later, Rozen, without fail, would always say these words whenever he remembered the reason behind Asuna’s change.

“I never know that my charm is so irresistible.”

Needless to say, such a shameless statement would be followed by a glare from Asuna.

Those four changes gave Clearers a whole brand new atmosphere, making them seemed more reliable than ever.

However, only the Clearers knew that not only good things awaited them as they kept advancing.

That was exactly their current circumstances, awaiting beyond the 74th Floor was the 75th Floor, a Floor with massive difficulty increment.

If they managed to clear it, it should be a smooth sail until the 100th Floor. However, at the same time, clearing it was no easy feat.

Therefore, although the Clearers haven’t cleared the 74th Floor, they were getting uneasy because that meant the 75th Floor would be soon upon them, causing their progress to slow down somewhat.

Usually, the Clearers would be able to clear a Floor within ten days at most. They could even clear Floors with medium difficulty increment within the same amount of or slightly more time.

Yet it was almost ten days since the last Floor was cleared now, and the labyrinth hasn’t been fully mapped out yet, let alone discovering the Boss Room.

As luck would have it, Rozen also encountered a problem.

The problem lay in none other than his Tamed Monsters, Saichou and Hanachou.

“Goo!”

“Woo!”

In the 74th Floor’s labyrinth, Saichou and Hanachou’s lively cries were reverberating throughout the labyrinth. They glided toward the monster like an aurora.

“Kaaaa!”

The three meters tall lizardman wearing heavy armor with a spear in his hand cried fiercely.

Both Hanachou and Saichou then hovered above its head and discharged yellowish and blackish powder.

“!”

The huge lizardman was afflicted by paralysis and blindness right when the yellowish and blackish powder fell on its head.

However…

“Kaaaa!”

In less than a few seconds, the status effect affecting the lizardman subsided, agitating the monster.

Seeing this scene, Rozen confirmed one thing.

“Saichou and Hanachou’s limits are approaching.”