Even Kaguya and Asuna, at this moment, found their breathing becoming heavy, their eyes blazing red... as if they could see the excitement and agitation in each other's eyes.
Other players in the restaurant were also cheering excitedly, so now the restaurant and the streets outside were incredibly chaotic.
Only Yusei felt somewhat disoriented and dazed. He blankly pulled up his own system's quest.
While his SAO's quest was the same as all other players', the system in his mind had given him a different mission:
[Mission Introduction: The beautiful giant dragon Kanna from another world is only fourteen thousand years old and still very young. She is extremely scared and apprehensive about this new world.
She is currently hiding in the Dragon's Lake on the 26th floor, waiting for her Dragon Knight to rescue her. Go save her. You will be the next Dragon (Refined Knight (Bronze), Combat (Tactics), Earth (+)).]
[Mission Target: Save Kanna. Protect Kanna from harm.]
[Mission Reward: Become a Dragon Knight. Tame Kanna, and obtain a mysterious item.]
[Note: The mysterious item can be anything you imagine. Even making Kanna willingly become your beloved pet is possible~]
[Do you accept the mission? This quest is optional to accept or decline.]
Yusei looked at the system's mission. After a brief silence, he decisively accepted the quest.
'As a fourteen-thousand-year-old little loli, she must be so frightened and suffering right now. How could I, a friend to all lolis, not help?'
'Even if I have to oppose all players, I must protect Kanna. For the sake of moe and justice!'
Compared to those players who only cared about leaving SAO, Yusei found their character utterly despicable, wanting to kill such an adorable little loli.
'Too cruel. I feel I must put a stop to this!'
As for becoming a 'Dragon' Knight, or some mysterious item... those were all fleeting clouds. Knight Yusei had no such thoughts.
Yes. That's exactly it.
However, the moment Yusei accepted the system quest, all players' game screens popped up with a [Warning] message:
[Warning! Emergency Quest Issued!]
[Detection confirms the giant dragon Kanna is protected by a powerful Dragon Knight. The Dragon Knight is hidden among the players.]
[Emergency Quest Target: Find the Dragon Knight hidden among the players. Prevent him from contacting the giant dragon Kanna.]
[Quest Success Reward: Obtain an item guaranteed to kill the giant dragon Kanna.]
[Quest Failure Penalty: The Dragon Knight and the giant dragon Kanna merge into one, becoming a powerful entity the players can no longer defeat.]
[Hint 1: When the Dragon Knight approaches the giant dragon Kanna, Kanna will show unusual closeness towards him.]
[Hint 2: The boss on the 26th floor drops an item that can detect a player's identity. Usable 3 times. Use it on the most suspicious person.]
[Hint 3: The drop items from elite monsters on the 26th floor contain hints pointing to the Dragon Knight's specific identity, characteristics, and appearance.]
[Friendly Reminder: The giant dragon Kanna is extremely powerful. It is recommended to find the Dragon Knight first and obtain the dragon-slaying item.]
The warning and hints ended here.
All players stared blankly at the quest. Most of them secretly cursed Kayaba for being cunning and creating unnecessary complications. A simple 'hero slays the dragon' story had turned into some mysterious puzzle-solving game?
Kaguya and Asuna exchanged a glance. A completely different kind of excitement showed in their eyes.
Especially Kaguya. This young lady had rarely used her genius-level intellect in SAO until now. Seeing a puzzle and a search mission piqued her interest.
She put down her utensils, glanced at Yusei, then looked at Asuna.
"Let's go. We'll first go clear the Christmas Boss Event and get the Revival Crystal."
Asuna was momentarily stunned, not quite catching on. She asked, puzzled, "Shouldn't we go clear the 25th floor to get the hints, then find the Dragon Knight, and finally slay the dragon Kanna?"
A glint of intelligence flashed in Kaguya's crimson eyes. She smiled slightly, "No, that would waste too much time. Those guys who are excited and have lost their minds will do the preliminary work for us."
"Even if we go, we won't gain much. After all, the most tempting reward is at the very end, which is the quest to slay the dragon Kanna."
"So, considering maximum efficiency, we should go get the Revival Crystal first. After all... it's also a good treasure, isn't it?"
Having said that, Kaguya glanced at Yusei, though it was unclear what she was thinking.
Asuna nodded, stood up slapping the table, adopting a decisive and efficient stance.
"In that case, no time to lose! Let's set off quickly!"
Wilderness Church, 20th Floor.
Yusei's party appeared at the entrance to the special boss instance.
Currently, the place was completely empty, as if no player wanted this revival item at all.
But this was understandable. After all, an item offering early escape from SAO had appeared. Who would still bother competing for a revival item now?
Even if the hope was slim, even if one lacked the strength or resources to compete with the major guilds... but what if, by some fluke, they managed to catch the Dragon Knight?
Nothing was certain. The strong were eager to try their luck, while the less powerful also wanted to take a chance.
In short, the place truly packed with people right now should be in front of the 25th-floor Boss Room. All players had crowded over there.
Yusei had also just finished a chat with Kayaba. That's right... these events were not orchestrated by Kayaba, he didn't have the ability to summon Kanna from another world.
If his guess was correct, Yusei believed it was the work of this system. No... it was its doing.
Moreover, Yusei had just tried to get Kayaba to modify some data for him, to strengthen him a bit more, but found it completely useless.
"The current data can only be as it is, strengthened through normal game progression. The evolution of the Sharingan Series, and the secrets of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu..."
He couldn't help but diss his own system: 'Way to go.'
'Other people's systems desperately scrounge up good stuff for their hosts.'
'And my system? Not only did it make me public enemy number one, but it also didn't let me use cheats. Was there any reason in this?'
But regardless, things had already happened, and Yusei wasn't afraid.
Even though he couldn't get further enhancements, he was already plenty strong. His current level had allowed him to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan.
With that, did he still care about being public enemy number one?