Seeing the hot weather, Klein suggested going to the vending machine to buy two bottles of mineral water and asked Kirito to wait here for a moment. Kirito nodded in agreement.
A moment later, Klein handed the mineral water to Kirito. "Kazuko, here's your water, it's very cold."
"Mm! Thank you, Klein!" Kirito took the mineral water, thanked him, and started drinking.
"Gulp, gulp... Hah, that feels great!" Kirito drank heartily, finishing the bottle of water in one go.
Seeing Kirito's crude way of drinking, Klein didn't feel disgusted; instead, he felt Kirito was very approachable, just like a little girl next door.
Kirito threw the mineral water bottle ten meters away. "What are you doing! Staring at me and smiling like that, is there something on my face?"
"No! No! I just think you're very cute, Kazuko. Being able to go on a date with you makes me so happy," Klein explained.
"Hmph! That trick won't work on me! I'm not like those ordinary girls," Kirito turned his head and snorted.
Kirito wasn't happy at all right now. You should know that the wind blowing under his skirt was constantly reminding him that he was doing something perverted—wearing women's clothes and pretending to be a girl on a date with a guy.
How could a man be happy with this series of actions? But there was no choice; a promise is a promise. Since he promised to introduce a girlfriend to Klein, he would see it through.
Otherwise, Klein would definitely use that promise to pester his younger sister. This was unacceptable, because his sister belonged to him and could only belong to him. How could he let Klein snatch her away!
Three thugs appeared in front of Kirito and Klein. The Yellow-Haired Man in the middle said frivolously, "Yo! Hey beauty, you're so cute! Do you want to go play with big brother?"
The Black-Haired Man to the left of the Yellow-Haired Man laughed, "Don't stay with this middle-aged guy! We'll take you to a good place."
The Blue-Haired Man to the left of the Yellow-Haired Man threw away his cigarette butt and said, "Our big brother is a famous person around here. If we go to that place, we can play for free."
"Oh no! They're in trouble, should we go out and help?" Asuna said worriedly.
"Don't worry! With their strength, these three thugs are just delivery boys," Illustrious stopped her.
Seeing these three little thugs trying to snatch someone right in front of him, Klein was instantly furious. "What do you want! I'm warning you to get lost before I get angry, or don't blame me for being rude."
The yellow-haired guy whistled, and the three thugs surrounded Klein. "Whew~ Old man! Don't be so arrogant. We're not characters to be trifled with. Now we're giving you a chance. If you don't want to be beaten half to death, then scram!"
"Hahaha! Just you three pieces of trash have the nerve to show off in front of me? Let me tell you, I can knock you all down with just a flick of my wrist," Klein said disdainfully.
"Damn it, so arrogant! Brothers, let's do it, beat him to death," the Yellow-Haired Man said angrily.
"Yes, big brother! Old man, prepare to die!"
"So stupid. Wouldn't it have been better to run away earlier? You just had to provoke us. You're dead meat."
Just as the three thugs were about to punch Klein, Klein struck first.
Bang, bang, bang...
Klein gave each of the three thugs a punch, sending them flying.
The thugs lying on the ground were in agony. Klein said with a fierce tone, "Get lost, or I'll beat you until you can't take care of yourselves."
The three thugs didn't expect Klein to be so powerful, taking them down in just a couple of moves. Seeing Klein glare at them, they were so scared they retreated several steps.
Hearing Klein let them go, how could they dare to resist him now? They immediately started running. "Run away!"
Klein, who had looked handsome just a moment ago, immediately turned back into a grinning, playful person after the three thugs left. "How about it, Kazuko? Did I look very handsome? So, are you willing to have children for me now?"
The corners of Illustrious, Asuna, and Kirito's mouths couldn't help but twitch. Klein, you really are incorrigible!
"I still have things to do today, so let's end today's date here!" Kirito took his leave; he didn't want to continue dating this Klein anymore.
"Wait, Kazuko, did I do something wrong?" Klein asked persistently.
Kirito ignored Klein and left without looking back, leaving Klein there to constantly reflect on himself.
Seeing that the show was over, Illustrious led Asuna away quietly... On his way home, the cross-dressing Kirito accidentally ran into his younger sister. At first glance, his sister saw through Kirito's cross-dressing disguise.
"Brother! Why are you going out dressed as a girl?! You haven't awakened some kind of cross-dressing attribute, have you?!" Looking at Kirito in women's clothes, Suguha said in disbelief.
"Suguha! Ah! No, miss, you have the wrong person. I'm not your brother." Kirito denied being Suguha's brother because if he admitted it, it would definitely be social suicide!
Suguha suddenly approached Kirito, sniffed him, and said, "Come on, I could never mistake your scent. This is the smell of my brother."
"Are you a dog?! You can actually identify people by their scent," Kirito said in shock.
"You admitted it! You really are my brother."
"What? So you were tricking me."
"It wasn't exactly a trick. I was seventy percent sure it was you, brother. Plus, with a little probe, I became 100% certain. Who told you to be so stupid as to let it out the moment I baited you?"
"Don't tell anyone else about my cross-dressing, you hear me?" Kirito didn't want anyone else to know about his cross-dressing.
Suguha patted her chest and guaranteed, "Don't worry! I won't tell anyone else. This will be a secret between the two of us."
"Then I can rest easy," Kirito breathed a sigh of relief.
Suguha reached out, wanting to lift her brother's skirt to see if he was wearing girls' panties, but she was stopped by Kirito. "I didn't expect Brother to have this kind of interest. Don't worry, even if Brother is a cross-dressing pervert, I'll still like you just the same."
Seeing that Suguha had misunderstood, Kirito hurriedly explained, "You've got it wrong! I'm not a cross-dressing pervert. There's a reason I'm wearing women's clothes. You have to believe in your brother's character."
"Yes, yes, yes! Let's go! I made your favorite dishes today." Suguha walked ahead of Kirito, not listening to his explanation at all.
Following Suguha, Kirito sighed helplessly. It seemed the label of 'cross-dressing pervert' was stuck to him in Suguha's eyes... After playing until evening, Illustrious and Asuna set off on their way home.
However, halfway back, they were stopped by four people in strange attire—three men and one woman.
"Who are you people?" Asuna asked, looking at the four warily.
"Asuna! Hello there! My name is Zhou Tiancha," a blue-haired middle-aged man introduced himself.
"Please call me Mu Shenghua! Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm very strong!" a red-haired mature woman said.
"My name is Bai Liancao! Let me tell you, you're my waifu, even if you're just a 2D character!" a yellow-haired youth said.
"Li Haifei! I'm with them, and I'm their leader," a very fat man said.
"What do you want?" Illustrious asked, staring at the four people who had suddenly appeared before them.
"We're here to kill Asuna!" the four said in unison, brimming with murderous intent.
Li Haifei and the others were B-rank Divine Seal Bearers from Divine Miracle. Divine Miracle issued S, A, and B-rank missions. He still remembered the contents of those three missions:
"B-rank Mission: Kill the incarnation of the 100th-floor boss, Reus. Time limit: None. Mission reward: 500 god coins."
"A-rank Mission: Kill Asuna. Time limit: One year. Mission reward: 1000 god coins."
"S-rank Mission: Change the plot of this world by more than 80%. Time limit: Three years. Mission reward: 100,000 god coins."
"Note: If the mission is not accepted within one hour, it will be considered a forfeit. Forfeiting or failing the mission will result in a direct penalty of 500 god coins."
As someone only one world away from becoming an A-rank Divine Seal Bearer, a confident Li Haifei naturally chose the A-rank mission.
There was a reason for choosing this mission. You see, a level 100 boss was bound to be strong, whereas Asuna was just a human. Although she was also a Ruler, she couldn't be compared to them because they were still Divine Seal Bearers, possessing powers unknown to this world. Killing Asuna would be no problem at all.
"I won't let you kill Asuna. You're not qualified. If you want to kill Asuna, you'll have to get past the swords in my hands first!" Illustrious manifested two weapons: one was the elucidator, and the other was the dark repulser.
"Dual Blades! Illustrious, I know you are the strongest person on the Ruler rankings. Though it's strange why a Ship Girl like you would appear in this world, since you are our enemy, we naturally won't let you off," Li Haifei said, radiating murderous intent.
"Ship Girl... You actually know I'm from the Azure World. Are you people from Earth?" Illustrious asked happily.
"You know about Earth? It seems you're from Earth too. I didn't expect to meet a fellow countryman in this world. I'm so moved," Li Haifei said with joy.
As the saying goes, when fellow countrymen meet, their eyes brim with tears. Thus, the two of them, looking deeply moved, rushed forward as if to embrace each other.
However, when they were only a foot away from embracing, they both suddenly gripped their swords and slashed at each other.
"Clang!"
Their swords collided fiercely, producing intense sparks. Illustrious and Li Haifei both shouted angrily in unison, "You bastard, you really were trying to sneak attack!"
After a few exchanges, Li Haifei was no match for Illustrious and was eventually pushed back four or five steps. Seeing how powerful Illustrious was, he decided to pay a heavy price.
Li Haifei pulled out a card. This card was a magic space worth 1000 god coins. By throwing it on the ground, he could bring his enemies and himself into a magic space together.
In that magic space, everyone's power would become as strong as the strongest person present. This effect lasts for one hour. Of course, this card can only grant power just below that of an S-rank Divine Seal Bearer at most.
Watching Li Haifei throw the card, Illustrious became wary, suspecting the opponent was about to use an underhanded trick. Sure enough, after the card hit the ground, a purple magic circle appeared in the blink of an eye. The magic circle emitted a blinding light that directly enveloped Li Haifei's group of four, along with Asuna and Illustrious, before they all vanished from the spot.
Opening her eyes again, Illustrious found herself in an eerie space. It was a hundred-cubic-meter area with purple flowers everywhere on the ground and patterns of sea creatures all over the walls. It looked extremely beautiful.
"Welcome to the Babylon Space. In this space, our power is absolutely equal—that is, everyone's power will become as strong as the strongest person here." Li Haifei began the classic villain behavior of talking too much, which was quite a headache for his teammates. Fortunately, he was strong, which was why he hadn't died in other mission worlds yet.
"Even if you're as strong as I am, you're still no match for me," Illustrious said very confidently.
"Don't talk nonsense. There are four of us and only two of you. How can you possibly beat us?" Li Haifei said dismissively.
"Bang!" Illustrious made her move. She struck first, attacking the yellow-haired youth. Li Haifei was right—everyone's strength was now equal. Even if Illustrious had more experience, Li Haifei could use their numbers to balance it out. To break this deadlock, she had to take one out first.
The yellow-haired youth didn't expect Illustrious to be so shameless as to start fighting without a word. He took the hit directly, coughed up blood, and was sent flying, ultimately ending up heavily injured and unconscious.
Having sneak-attacked one person, Illustrious moved to strike the red-haired mature woman. Seeing Illustrious coming at her so aggressively, Mu Shenghua was naturally on guard. She wasn't sent flying like the yellow-haired youth; since their strength was now equal, Mu Shenghua and Illustrious traded blows back and forth.
"Tsk! Attack her!" Li Haifei knew Illustrious was the biggest obstacle to killing Asuna, so he decided to kill Illustrious first.
Originally, Illustrious had a great advantage against Mu Shenghua; after all, Mu Shenghua's experience was far inferior to Illustrious'.
When Illustrious began her attack, Li Haifei and Zhou Tiancha joined the battlefield, causing Illustrious to immediately fall into a disadvantage and gradually show signs of defeat.
Seeing Illustrious in danger, Asuna naturally wouldn't just watch. A rapier materialized in her hand, which she gripped tightly. Then, with a bang, she unleashed Sonic Leap, striking at Zhou Tiancha like a bolt of lightning.
Feeling Asuna's attack from behind, Zhou Tiancha had no choice but to abandon his assault on Illustrious and began clashing blades with Asuna.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Asuna continuously exchanged blows with Zhou Tiancha. She was very confused; she was friendly to others, never did anything bad, and certainly hadn't offended anyone. Why would someone want to kill her?
"Bang!"
After using a move called Snake Bite, Asuna directly repelled Zhou Tiancha and then said in a cold tone, "Why do you want to kill me?"
"You want to know? Fine! But you'll have to defeat me first," Zhou Tiancha said with a chuckle.
"As you wish!" Knowing the other party wouldn't tell her, Asuna unleashed Rage Spike and lunged violently at Zhou Tiancha.
"Hahaha! Well come! I've long heard that Miss Asuna's thrusting swordsmanship is formidable; today I must experience it properly." Zhou Tiancha used Spinning Shield, blocking Asuna's Rage Spike.
After both took a step back, they continued to raise their swords and clash, the sound of striking blades ringing out continuously.
Seeing that Asuna hadn't fallen into a disadvantage while clashing with Zhou Tiancha, Illustrious felt relieved. Taking advantage of her distraction, Li Haifei immediately unleashed Howling Octave. This move was an eight-hit sword skill of considerable power; Illustrious couldn't withstand it and was sent flying by Li Haifei.
---------------------------------
I hope you enjoy this fanfiction! If you're having fun and want to read 30 chapters in advance, feel free to check out my Patreon: patreon.com/TLScarlet
Your support means a lot so if you like the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone.