Why did Hikigaya save the anime girls in Sword Story?

"Asuna and I are not..."

"I understand, I understand. Just like Kirito and I have a pure comradeship!"

Afterwards, it was rare to see Kirito showing a reluctant expression, and Hachiman said that it was great to have friends. The two of them continued hunting until their levels were raised and ended the day's activities.

Two weeks later, the front line had advanced to the 28th floor, but Kirito had not appeared since the boss battle on the 25th floor. Although everyone was a little concerned, no one was really worried when they thought of his strength.

Asuna has been very busy recently. She lives in the dormitory arranged by the guild, and goes hunting and holds meetings in teams every day. This is pretty much the life of the guild, and Hachiman and Asuna have gradually become distant.

That day, Hachiman sneaked into the 26th floor maze area alone and discovered a battle on the middle floor.

"Is that Kirito? Hey Kirito!"

There was no response. After careful observation, it was found that Kirito was not in a good state. He was fighting frantically as if he was seeking death. After annihilating the enemy, Kirito suddenly fell down. Hachiman hurriedly carried him back to his home.

On the way back, the unconscious Kirito kept muttering: "...Fortunately...I'm sorry..."

After waking up, Kirito asked, "Where is this place?"

"My house, you fainted in the maze"

"hungry?"

"..."

Hachiman cooked the soup silently. After drinking it, Kirito frowned and said, "It tastes bad."

"Shut up! We've been running out of good ingredients lately without Asuna."

"Ha ha......"

“…don’t you want to know why?”

"Not interested in"

"Yeah"

After a long silence, Kirito spoke first: "Isn't Hachiman lonely? If Asuna is not here..."

"No! You can contact me anytime you want, even though I haven't."

"'You can contact me anytime you want'..."

That night, Kirito, who had been in the maze for several days, finally slept in a warm bed.

The next morning, Kirito returned to his usual self. He poked at the map on Hachiman's wall and raised an eyebrow. "How could they have found this hidden house? Did they use some forbidden NPC favorability bug?"

"This is a single player's intelligence network, but it's also a reward for doing good deeds every day."

Looking at Kirito who had regained some strength, Hachiman said, "And you have to pay back the accommodation fee. Don't try to refuse to pay."

"...I understand. I won't think about dying again until I pay it off."

"Oh"

When they were leaving, Kirito said, "When I see Asuna, I'll tell her that Hachiman was crying because of loneliness."

"Hey!"

(I don’t know when Kirito’s inner scars will heal, but at least he’s gotten through the worst.)

Just like that, Kirito returned to the frontline battlefield.

SAO : Chapter 36 Everyday Encounters with Friends

Deep in the foggy forest on the 35th floor, three figures were advancing slowly on dead branches. The black-haired boy in front suddenly stopped and raised his hand to signal his companions to stay alert.

"I said Hachiman--" The pink-haired girl carrying a battle axe was interrupted just as she was about to speak.

"Another seven hundred meters to Fir Square. The terrain there is ideal for a defensive battle." The young man used his scabbard to push aside the hanging vines. "But Liz, if you step on a poisonous thorn again, the cost of the fifth bottle of antidote this week will be deducted from your forging fee."

"Stingy! It was you who deliberately led the way to the trap area last time."

Elki, carrying a giant hammer, said: "Alright, alright, both of you stop arguing."

If an ordinary player accidentally walked into this place at this moment, he would probably be shocked. In the confusing forest known as the "Death Maze", these three guys were as relaxed as if they were strolling in their own backyard.

The reason for this name is that as soon as you walk in, you will understand that this deep forest where not even a ray of sunlight can penetrate will make those who are not used to it completely lose their sense of direction, but occasionally there will be people who are not confused.

Hachiman is one of those few.

"Why doesn't Hachiman get lost?"

"Of course it's because of my eyes that can see through illusions."

"Ah~ yes, yes, because you have a weird personality."

"cut"

"Oh, this neighborhood looks nice?"

"Then let's use this place as a base to level up for a while."

For some reason, Hachiman had come here today with Agil and Lisbeth. The story began three days ago in the afternoon, when the three of them had the following conversation in front of Agil's open-air stall:

"Agil~Long time no see~"

"Oh, Liz, what do you need?"

"No, I was just passing by. Ah, isn't that Hachiman? Hey~ Hachiman~"

Hearing the call, Hachiman walked over quickly.

"Hey, don't shout my name in the street"

"What's the matter? By the way, if Hachiman is free, do you want to go leveling together?"

"Huh? Why would I..."

"I've been a bit lazy and haven't leveled up lately, so I thought it was about time I leveled up a bit."

Hachiman wanted to find an excuse to shirk responsibility, but the words that came out of his mouth were his usual lines:

"Ah~ Sorry, I've been feeling a bit...well..."

"Okay~ Let's set off immediately."

"Wait, did I just say no?"

"Huh? But Hachiman's way of saying it is obviously the tone he uses when he has some free time."

"Tsk... I really can't do anything with you, just for a moment."

"great!"

"Hey you two, can you take me with you?"

"Hmm? Is Agil going to level up too?"

"I guess so. I've been so busy with business lately that I'm a little unsure about the boss battle on the next floor."

"Then let's team up as three. Agil, clean up the mess."

"okay"

"Then the three-person team will set off!"

So that's how it turned out.

"Then stay here! You two can go and lure the monsters with you."

"please"

"Come on, Hachiman~"

Hachiman walked through the Forest of Confusion as if walking on flat ground and disappeared into the woods.

"Agil, how's business been lately?"

"Honestly, the output of the Forest of Confusion is totally insufficient."

"Ah~ As expected, this is the front line, and the monsters all move in groups."

"It's too demanding for adventurers below the mid-level in terms of strength. There are probably not many people who can sneak in alone."

"Fortunately, Hachiman is here."

"Indeed, you will never get lost, and you can also accurately control the number of monsters you attract."

"Ah, it seems to be coming."

"Oh"

"Three. I'll control two, and you each take care of one."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hachiman rushed out from the woods, followed closely by three monsters as agile as gorillas.

He nimbly restrained two of them, while Agil and Liz, two power-type players, took turns launching heavy attacks. After quickly dealing with the first one, the two turned to attack the second one, while Hachiman dealt with the remaining one alone, and the last one soon fell.

"It's easy to do this kind of thing."

"That's right. Even if there are more of us, we can still use the terrain to deal with them. Just defeat them one by one."

"Leave it to us!"

For Hachiman, getting along with these two people was particularly easy. They both knew how to strike a balance and maintain just the right distance, worthy of being businessmen.

"Then let's move on to the next wave!"

"Anytime!"

After hunting for a while, the three of them had all leveled up considerably and had gathered a large quantity of materials. Just as they were about to return home with a full load, Hachiman suddenly suggested something, as if remembering something:

"By the way, I just found something interesting. Do you want to go take a look?"

Following Hachiman, we arrived at an open square with a huge fir tree standing alone in the center.

“Is this a fir tree? It’s so big.”

“The kind that’s like a Christmas tree?”

"That's right. A fir tree appears in a suspicious square like this. Perhaps there's a special Christmas monster there?"

"possible"

"This is what I wanted to show you. Let's go back after taking a rest. It seems that there are no monsters spawning around here."

After a short rest, the three of them cleared out the monsters they encountered along the way and returned to the town.

A few days later, Hachiman was called out by Kirito.

Kirito, who had been reunited after a long absence, seemed to have recovered his spirits on the surface, but he could still be seen to be worried. In fact, in Kirito's eyes, Hachiman also had a similar expression.

"What's up today?"

"Actually, I heard from Agil..."

The giant fir tree Kirito mentioned was the one he tried to get to but couldn't find the way to. He hoped Hachiman could take him to see it.

(It’s really hard to find there.)

Hachiman, whose strategy had just come to an end, agreed to the request. The two of them killed the monsters along the way in seconds and advanced quickly. The only crisis was when Hachiman made a mistake and attracted more than a dozen gorilla monsters - but that battle was a completely one-sided crushing defeat.

As they approached the square, Hachiman suddenly became alert.

"Wait a minute, Kirito, there's something."

"The one who can alert Hachiman... is a mid-level boss?"

"Well, at least it's not just some ordinary trash."

The two advanced cautiously and discovered a dryad disguised as a tree.

“That’s the one”

"They look like just ordinary trees...are they dryads?"

"Let's mimic it, get started."

The surprise attack was quickly counterattacked, with waving branches making it difficult for the two men to get close.

"Can you cut those branches? I don't have enough range to attack."

"no problem"