Zongman, Rebirth of the Heaven-Defying Kirito

The thought of that dessert he hadn't even had a chance to taste made his anger flare up again.

Kirito didn't want to waste any more words with him, so he picked up his sword and stepped forward.

Seeing this, Coconut Latte knew that if it didn't beg for mercy soon, it would really be returning to the living world.

In a moment of quick thinking, he shouted, "Wait! If the big shot really cares, I'll compensate you!"

After saying that, he closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain of the sword falling.

However, a few seconds passed, and the expected pain did not come.

He cautiously opened his eyes a crack and found Kirito's sword stopped right in front of his face, only a few centimeters away from the tip of his nose.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Kirito slowly sheath his sword and put the Explainer back into its scabbard.

Kirito finally spoke, "Tell me the details about the compensation!"

Seeing Kirito sheathe his sword, Coconut Latte's tense body instantly relaxed.

The oppressive feeling of the blade touching his face almost triggered the fear debuff on him.

He swallowed hard, forced a smile back onto his face, and tentatively asked, "Boss, seeing how much you cared about that dessert earlier, you must have a special fondness for the food in SAO, right?"

Kirito leaned back against the tree and nodded noncommittally upon hearing this.

As a game that fully immerses the five senses, SAO even offers experiences that have never been seen in reality.

This is one of the reasons why players are so fond of SAO.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Coconut Latte's eyes lit up instantly. She took two steps forward, raising her voice several decibels: "Then, would you consider joining our 'Gourmet Hunter' guild?"

Kirito raised an eyebrow. How did things suddenly turn into an invitation to join a guild?

The voice of the coconut latte continued: "With your skills, plus our guild's exclusive food intelligence network, a powerful combination will definitely allow us to eat our way through all the hidden delicacies in SAO!"

Eat all the delicious food in SAO...

These words, like a small pebble, stirred up ripples in Kirito's heart.

But the thought only lingered in his mind for two seconds before he suppressed it.

He shook his head, his tone calm but firm: "I'm sorry, I already have a guild."

"Oh? Is that so..." The excitement on Shengye Latte's face vanished instantly, and her shoulders slumped.

But he quickly looked up again and leaned closer: "If joining isn't possible, then we can cooperate, right?"

Kirito leaned forward slightly, a look of interest on his face: "Oh? How does this cooperation work? Does it have anything to do with the compensation we just mentioned?"

"Of course it's related!"

Coconut Latte looked around and confirmed that all she could hear was the rustling of leaves in the wind.

He then leaned close to Kirito's ear, his voice tinged with mystery: "Boss, to be honest, our guild recently got hold of information about a rare ingredient!"

"What?! Rare ingredients?!" This time it was Kirito's turn to be surprised, and his voice unconsciously rose.

In SAO, common ingredients are everywhere, but rare ingredients are hard to come by.

This is because they not only spawn randomly, but are also occasionally accompanied by challenging guardian monsters.

Last time, in order to feed the little fat dragon, he put in almost all of his ingredients, and he never encountered it again after that.

While Asuna's cooking is indeed delicious, the ingredients she uses are all ordinary.

Now that he suddenly hears news of rare ingredients, how could Kirito not be excited?

Startled by his sudden increase in volume, Coconut Latte hurriedly covered Kirito's mouth, her eyes darting nervously around as she whispered urgently, "Shh! Keep your voice down! This kind of information can't be heard by anyone else!"

Kirito then lowered his voice and looked at him with suspicion: "But aren't I an outsider too? You were just worried that I would send you back to the respawn point, how dare you tell me such important information now?"

He simply couldn't understand how this player's thought process worked. One second they were at loggerheads, and the next they were leaking the guild's core information.

Coconut Latte scratched his head and laughed awkwardly: "To be honest, our guild only has about twenty people at most, and most of them are weaklings. We don't have the strength to compete for rare ingredients."

Kirito: "..."

This was the first time he had ever seen someone so ruthlessly belittle his guild, even with a hint of 'pride' in their composure.

"So that's why!" Coconut Latte's eyes were full of anticipation: "I could tell just now from our exchange that you're definitely a master! I put all my attribute points into agility just now and barely managed to dodge that sword strike. If it were anyone else in our guild, they would have been chopped into data fragments by now!"

"You put all your attribute points into Agility?" Kirito looked at the coconut latte from head to toe with disbelief.

In SAO, players typically allocate attribute points evenly, focusing either on strength or stamina.

It's unheard of to put all attribute points into Agility like this.

What's the difference between this and abandoning the ability to fight and only pursuing escape speed?

"That's right!" Coconut Latte puffed out his chest, a smug look on his face. "Look, I didn't even bring any weapons. When I encounter monsters, I either go around them or rely on my agility to escape. I never fight them head-on!"

He continued, "And it's not just me, most people in our guild play like this. Fighting monsters and stuff, nothing beats finding delicious food!"

Kirito silently thought to himself: There are only two Crouching Dragons and Phoenix Chicks, but you have a whole nest of them.

This Gourmet Hunter Guild is practically a gathering place for oddballs in SAO.

But it must be said that their approach of 'giving up the fight for food' is quite novel.

He has forged his own path and belongs to...

SAO has a unique mechanism where players can gain experience from forging, sewing, and cooking even if they don't fight monsters, although the amount is relatively small.

This has also given rise to a group of production players.

But they have no experience in finding ingredients, so it's hard to imagine how they've managed to get to where they are today.

He stared at the coconut latte for a few seconds, then finally sighed helplessly: "I, the Black Swordsman, admit that you are the strongest when it comes to food!"

After all, even he himself couldn't put all his attribute points into agility just to find ingredients.

Coconut Latte's eyes lit up instantly, and she asked cautiously, "Boss, you mean... you're willing to help us?"

Kirito stood up, brushed the grass clippings off his clothes, and said, "Let's go, let me see what kind of rare ingredient it is?"

"Yay!" Coconut Latte jumped up excitedly.

He steadied himself in a flurry of activity, quickly opened his menu, and typed rapidly.

Soon, a team invitation appeared in Kirito's field of vision.

Kirito tapped the virtual screen lightly—"Accept Invitation"