Aincrad, 65th Floor.
The newly opened main city was still desolate, with only a few top-tier exploration players hurrying to resupply on the streets.
Days ago, the news of Chen Mo refusing Heathcliff's duel had already swept across the entire game.
The five words, "busy looking at the scenery," became the most absurd and talked-about legend in the player community.
Some said he was arrogant to the extreme.
Others said this was the composure of the god of strategy, because in his world, the challenge from the Knights of the Blood Oath's leader was indeed an insignificant matter.
As the center of the storm, Chen Mo himself had no interest in the outside world's clamor.
At this moment, he was sitting in a newly opened dessert shop, poking at the almost untouched cheesecake in front of him with a fork.
Across from him, Argo had just finished her last bite of strawberry parfait, her eyes narrowed in satisfaction, and her dangling small legs swayed happily.
"I say, dear, are you really not going to check the forums? It's really lively now."
Argo scooped a large spoonful of ice cream with her spoon and playfully offered it to Chen Mo's mouth.
"Your approval rating has overwhelmingly surpassed Heathcliff's, you know. Many people think your 'looking at the scenery' line was super cool, meow."
Chen Mo opened his mouth and ate the ice cream; the sweet, rich taste melted in his mouth, and he mumbled his evaluation.
"Boring."
For him, whether it was conquering floors or dealing with Heathcliff, they were merely to-do items in the process of clearing the game.
The only thing he truly found interesting was the girl beside him, who would act spoiled with him, bicker with him, openly price all her information, yet secretly keep her true feelings just for him.
Just then, Argo's communication request suddenly flashed.
She casually swiped it open, and a short line of text popped out.
"Old place, coordinates for top-tier rare ore Stardust Sand, exclusive news, come quickly."
Argo's eyes instantly lit up.
She immediately clicked on the map, confirmed the coordinates were in the wilderness not far from this main city, and then, like presenting a treasure, turned the interface towards Chen Mo.
"Dear, look! Stardust Sand! The best material for accessories!"
She lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "You wait for me here, I'll be back in five minutes to give you a surprise!"
With that, without waiting for Chen Mo's response, the greedy and eager-to-impress little mouse had already transformed into an afterimage, rushing out of the dessert shop in a flurry.
Chen Mo watched her disappearing back, smiled helplessly, and continued to slowly eat the ice cream.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes passed.
She didn't return.
The smile on Chen Mo's face slowly faded.
He swiped open his friends list and sent a message to Argo.
No reply.
The string in his heart, which had always been pulled by something, suddenly tightened.
The next second, he raised his right hand, his gaze falling on the ring with garden vines engraved on his ring finger.
He activated the ring's summoning function.
The expected light did not illuminate.
The option representing summoning turned a dead, gray color.
"Target is in a special space, summoning failed."
Crack.
The metal fork in Chen Mo's hand silently broke into two pieces.
Almost at the same moment, his communication requests flashed frantically.
It was Asuna.
He swiped open the interface, and a line of text popped out with an urgent tone.
"First Floor! Something happened in the Black Iron Palace Dungeon! A guard was killed, and they left a message about... a mouse!"
Chen Mo closed the interface.
He slowly stood up, placing the broken fork on the table.
All the sounds around him seemed to recede at this moment.
He crushed a teleport crystal... First Floor, Town of Beginnings.
In the dark, damp dungeon, the heavy iron door had been violently blasted open, twisted and lying to one side.
The air was filled with a faint smell of blood, and the unique burnt odor of dissipating data.
The teleportation light flared, and Kirito and Asuna's figures had just appeared; before they could even make sense of the situation, another light exploded beside them.
Chen Mo's figure emerged.
He didn't look at the mess on the ground, nor did he pay attention to the two people who looked astonished and bewildered.
He walked step by step, straight into the most severely damaged cell.
On the cell wall, a line of large characters written in some kind of red liquid, with twisted strokes and a morbid malice, seared his pupils.
"Want to save the mouse?"
Asuna and Kirito also followed him in; upon seeing the words, both gasped in unison.
"Argo!"
Asuna cried out in alarm. She suddenly looked at Chen Mo, her heart clenching uncontrollably.
The man merely stood quietly in front of the wall.
There was no angry roar, no leaking killing intent.
He just stood there, like an ancient, unchanging sculpture, yet he made the light in the entire dungeon dim, and even the crackling of the burning torches eerily disappeared.
A fear stemming from primal instinct seized Kirito's heart, making his sword-wielding hand go numb.
He felt that what was before him was not a person.
But a black hole, awakening, capable of devouring the entire world.
"Which guild."
Chen Mo spoke.
His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion, yet it made dust fall from the stone wall.
This was not a question.
It was a confirmation before judgment.
"Chen Mo..."
Asuna forced herself to break free from the suffocating sensation, her voice dry as she replied.
"According to intelligence, it should be remnants of Laughing Coffin. They've recently been active in Lumbar on the 27th Floor, which is the Land of Perpetual Darkness, with complex terrain..."
Her words were not yet finished.
Chen Mo had already turned around.
His handsome face was devoid of any expression; in his black eyes was a pure void, unmixed with any impurities.
"Chen Mo, don't be rash! This is definitely a trap! Since they dared to do this, they must have set a complete snare! Let us gather our forces first..."
Asuna cried out urgently.
Chen Mo's footsteps did not falter in the slightest.
He walked past her, without a word, heading straight for the teleportation plaza.
A trap?
Of course he knew.
Thinking of that always smiling girl, who liked to tease him with strange verbal tics, and would cry with emotion over a single ring, now fallen into the hands of those scum... the string of reason in his chest had snapped.
To hell with the trap.
To hell with the Final Boss.
To hell with clearing the game.
At this moment, he only wanted to kill.
Chen Mo walked to the teleportation gate and, in the destination list, precisely selected—
"27th Floor · Lumbar"
Blue light swallowed him.
Asuna's shouts were cut off outside the light.
She and Kirito stood frozen, feeling that the light of that teleportation was colder than ever before.
They knew.
Tonight, Aincrad was about to change.