Sword Art Online Crossover: They're all close friends, how did I become a player?

"Master, thank you very much for signing the contract with us. This is your chosen initial sword: Yamanbagiri Kunihiro. Kitsunenosuke will take you to your assigned citadel shortly."

Led by Kitsunenosuke to the legendary Time Government, and after negotiating the terms with the staff, this seemingly elite government official politely escorted Yu Bai to the door.

Because Yu Bai was still a child laborer, yet his spiritual power was astonishing. During a period of severe shortage of combat power, the Time Government was unwilling to give up on this child laborer who had been brought over by Kitsune-no-suke.

So, after inquiring about the specifics, the Time Government offered a great deal of convenience. They received twice the salary and resources for forging swords compared to ordinary Saniwa, and could travel freely between the mortal world and the Honmaru, since Saniwa also needed to attend school. They also received a high-level starting sword, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, as a gift.

"The previous owner of Yamanbagiri Kunihiro did not renew his contract because he wanted to return to his hometown to take care of his elderly parents after it expired. The Saniwa entrusted us to take good care of his swords and find them good new owners."

Now I entrust him to you. Please treat him well and do not mistreat him because he had a previous master.

"You can summon the sword spirits after you return to the citadel, or you can summon them here now. However, as we just discussed, Lord Yubai is currently studying in the human world. Therefore, you will frequently travel between the citadel and the human world. You can bring the spirits into the human world to protect you in the future, but please do not bring more than three spirits."

"If you need the government of time to arrange a new place for you in the present world, you can also tell us." The elite man looked at the novice Saniwa in front of him who was only in his third year of junior high school, paused for a moment, and then suggested.

"Here's a suggestion for you: due to your special circumstances, please be careful to conceal your real name. Although you are a sword spirit, you are still a god, and a human's real name is very important. Although it is extremely rare, there have been cases where a spirit has disappeared from the person who is to be mastered."

Upon hearing this, the novice Saniwa gently stroked the fox spirit, which she had already rubbed into a puddle of fox meat, and said calmly, "It's alright, Yu Bai is not my real name."

"Alright then, Lord Yu Bai, I'll see you off here." Although he was curious about why this young boy was using a pseudonym, as a highly emotionally intelligent worker in the system, he naturally knew which questions he could ask and which he should keep to himself.

"Okay, please."

Watching the departing figure, the man pushed up his glasses and said, "Tsk tsk, I feel like this citadel is going to be quite interesting from now on."

……

"Master, this is your Honmaru. Now let's summon the sword spirits together."

Kitsune-no-suke nimbly jumped down from Yu Bai's arms. Although he was reluctant to leave the Saniwa's warm embrace, Kitsune-no-suke did not forget his important task: to awaken Yamanbagiri Kunihiro.

"Can I just channel my spiritual energy into this sword?" Yu Bai asked, looking at the initial sword he had chosen.

He probably doesn't have spiritual power, but he has a lot of internal energy. It's just unclear whether the two can be used interchangeably.

To be honest, Yu Bai doesn't have a deep memory of the game "Touken Ranbu".

Firstly, it was a long time ago, and secondly, he hadn't played the game at the time, only watched the anime "Hanamaru." He only knew the game's name through the anime.

However, at that time, one of my colleagues was a seasoned gamer. For a period of time, I could often hear the silly giggling of the girl at the next table, along with things like, "The legs of Awataguchi aren't legs, they're the spring waters rippling on the Seine," and "Grandpa's waist isn't a waist, it's a deadly curved blade," and so on.

Fortunately, thanks to the explanation from the Time Government and the lingering memories of anime that Yu Bai had just awakened, he had gained some understanding of how to deal with the God of Destruction and what he needed to do in the future.

Logically speaking, Yu Bai is someone who is too lazy to even participate in the plots of Prince of Tennis and Detective Conan, which are more deeply ingrained in his memory, so he would not become a Saniwa.

Even though Kitsune-no-suke pleaded desperately, Yu Bai, who only wanted to be a lazy bum, couldn't do anything about it, as the Time Government had given him too much.

And to be fair, the moment Yu Bai received the Yamanbagiri, the sharp glint of the blade stirred up some feelings hidden deep within his heart.

I want to heal someone with a single stroke of the healing spell, and I also want to use the sword hidden in the zither to strike someone. I long to have a good fight with people from other sects like before, but unfortunately, in this law-abiding society, there are no demons or monsters, so such opportunities are almost nonexistent.

This made Yu Bai somewhat itchy to do it, but he usually suppressed it because of his retirement lifestyle.

…………

Looking at the sword he held in his hand, Yu Bai felt this was a good opportunity.

Instead of taking out the Changge exclusive orange weapon Fujin and Tenon Feimeng from his game backpack, he gripped the hilt of Yamanbagiri Kunihiro's sword tightly in his hand with a somewhat excited smile on his face.

Hehe~ O(n_n)O

As he waved his arm, a female voice, audible only to Yu Bai, rang in his ears.

"A good horse without a good saddle, and a weapon that is not handy."

No, hehe, ?????

"I am Yamanbagiri Kunihiro... What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?... Are you bothered that I'm a replica?" The man, who appeared amidst soft white light and cherry blossom petals, said this.

"Hello, I am your Saniwa, Yu Bai. Also, I don't know much about the swords of Japan, but you are unique to me."

The personalities of tsukumogami are truly diverse. This one seems to be a very well-behaved tsukumogami, the kind that doesn't have the courage to rush to its master, has a low profile but diligently does many things behind the scenes.

However, such a personality and strong presence can easily be overlooked, especially when there are many summoned spirits in the later stages of the game.

It seems I need to be more careful about this in the future. Fortunately, when I was in Changge, I automatically learned a skill when facing my fellow disciples: being fair and impartial.

Knowing that sword spirits have a natural affinity for the master who awakens them, Yu Bai decides to take care of every sword spirit as much as possible in the future. Although he always says he wants to retire, he also needs to have a sense of responsibility while doing so.

Looking at the person in front of him, who was wrapped up tightly in a white cloak that resembled a bed sheet, he thought to himself.

Why does it feel like retirement is getting further and further away from me?

No, no, no! It must be an illusion, no doubt! It's an illusion!