บท 114: Complete Decoding

If Eriri's friends had asked for her help, she would have gladly assisted them in becoming superhumans. Eriri wasn't hiding anything from them and even brought up the topic in front of them intentionally, indicating her willingness to help.

She genuinely regarded Kiyo Sakamaki and Azusa Satomi as friends. If they couldn't awaken their abilities on their own, Eriri wouldn't hesitate to give them a hand. As for Utaha Kasumigaoka, Eriri had already decided that Utaha would eventually become part of her extended family, so she didn't mind helping her evolve earlier.

However, Utaha hesitated and missed a golden opportunity, delaying the time it would take for her to gain supernatural abilities. Who knows how she might feel once she realizes this in the future.

The group soon finished their sumptuous lunch, and after Aoi Kujo cleaned up the tableware, they returned to the classroom. Aoi, dressed in her maid uniform, effortlessly carried the large box of dishes out of the school, becoming a popular topic of conversation on campus.

Since Eriri and her friends weren't involved in any club activities, they left school immediately after classes ended.

Reina, who had finished her school day half an hour earlier, was already sitting in the car, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"Reina-chan, how was school today?" Eriri asked, holding Reina in her arms and inquiring about her day.

"School was fun, and I made a new friend! Next time, I'll introduce her to you, Onee-chan," Reina replied, nodding excitedly. It was clear she had enjoyed her day at school.

"That sounds great! You can invite your friend over to our house to play sometime," Eriri said, nuzzling Reina's adorable face with a doting smile.

Hearing that Reina had made a friend on her first day at school made everyone happy, and they already had a good impression of Reina's friend. Knowing how mature Reina was for her age, they were certain her friend must also be a kind and lovely child.

Reina then eagerly recounted her day at school to Eriri and the others. Amidst the laughter and conversation, the car soon arrived back at the Sawamura household.

After spending about fifteen minutes at home, Eriri returned to the world of "Sword Art Online."

The living room hadn't changed much since yesterday, except that there were now five sleeping mats instead of four, indicating that Gabriel-chan and the others had been sleeping in the living room.

Gabriel and Lala were lying on their mats with headsets on, while Asuna was nowhere to be seen, likely still at school. Nana and Momo were sitting on the couch watching TV, just like the day before.

Eriri's arrival went unnoticed as she materialized behind the sofa. Seeing their tails lazily draped over the back of the couch, a mischievous smile appeared on her face. She quickly moved closer and grabbed their tails.

Instantly, Nana and Momo, as if their weak spots had been attacked, collapsed weakly onto the couch.

"Nana, Momo, did you miss me after a whole day apart?" Eriri leaned over the back of the couch, resting her stomach on it, and peered down at the two.

"Ah… Eriri, stop, let go, ah…" Nana and Momo breathed sighs of relief when they realized it was Eriri who had grabbed their tails. But soon, under Eriri's teasing touches, they couldn't help but moan softly, their bodies becoming even more sensitive.

Remembering how Eriri had overwhelmed them with her seventy-two techniques the day before, they both felt a suspicious dampness in their underwear, and their faces flushed with deepening blushes.

Seeing their blushing, enchanting faces, Eriri couldn't resist giving each of them a kiss on the cheek, making them both shyly whimper in response.

Laughing heartily, Eriri finally released their sensitive tails, then climbed over the couch to sit between them, her arms instinctively wrapping around their waists. The two, now freed, leaned against her shoulders, panting.

After a while, Eriri chatted with Nana and Momo before heading over to the mats, lying down next to Gabriel, and putting on her VR headset to re-enter the world of "Sword Art Online."

In the game, her avatar suddenly sat up on a bed in a familiar-looking room. She remembered that she had logged out while sitting in a chair the previous day, but now someone—likely Gabriel, Asuna, or Lala—had moved her to the bed.

Getting up from the bed, Eriri opened her inventory with a wave of her hand and equipped herself with a top-tier set of gear.

In an instant, she was clad in a white light armor with a golden sword matching her hair color at her waist, looking both valiant and beautiful.

Because Lala had specially designed the gear, it was account-bound, had no level requirement, wouldn't drop upon death, and would instantly return to the owner if stolen. Moreover, no one else could use the equipment.

Checking her friends' list, which only had three names, Eriri sent a private message to Gabriel and Lala simultaneously.

"Where are you now?"

A few seconds later, she received their replies. She opened Gabriel's chat window first.

[Gabriel: Almost level thirty.]

[Kashiwagi Eri: That's amazing! Did you stay up all day?]

[Gabriel: Who said that? My body has been sleeping the entire time!]

[Kashiwagi Eri: You never cease to amaze me. Alright, keep grinding the dungeon.]

[Gabriel: Mhm, I'll come find you as soon as I clear it.]

Although the experience needed to level up in the early stages wasn't that high, no one in the game world, except Gabriel, had reached level ten yet. The trapped players couldn't grind all day like Gabriel, as their spirits also needed rest.

As a result, the highest level among ordinary players was only around seven or eight, creating a massive gap.

Gabriel's anomaly had long caught the attention of Kayaba Akihiko, who was monitoring the game world. However, despite all his efforts, he couldn't restrict Gabriel. His admin privileges had no effect on her.

This forced Kayaba to log out of the game and rush to his hidden research base deep in the mountains, where he began a full-scale diagnostic of the entire game, hoping to identify the glitch. But thanks to Lala's interference, Kayaba's efforts were destined to be in vain.

After closing Gabriel's chat window, Eriri opened Lala's, where Lala had already sent several messages.

[Lala: Eriri, welcome back!]

[Lala: I have something important to tell you.]

[Lala: Are you still in the initial house?]

[Lala: Eriri, why aren't you replying to my messages?]

[Kashiwagi Eri: I'm here. Sorry, Lala, I got held up for a bit. I'm still in the house.]

[Lala: Mhm, I'm not far away. I'll be back soon! Wait for me!]

In less than a few minutes, Lala returned to the house.

Seeing Eriri in her outfit, even though she had designed it herself, Lala couldn't help but be amazed, circling around Eriri a few times to admire it.

"Wow, Eriri, you look so pretty in that outfit! I think we should make this outfit in real life too."

"That's not important right now. Lala, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Eriri waved her hand, moving on from the topic.

She could change her clothes' style at will, much like Lala's multifunctional transformation robot, Peipei. However, she rarely did so and preferred to shop for clothes like an ordinary person, only adding defense and dust-proof functions to her outfits.

Life needed a sense of ritual. If she used her abilities to fulfill every need, life would become too boring.

"Mhm, I've completely cracked this game. I can take away Kayaba Akihiko's admin privileges at any time," Lala said with a look of anticipation, clearly hoping for praise.

Eriri patted Lala's pink head, smiling. "Good job, Lala. You're amazing."

"Eh-hehe," Lala giggled happily, pleased with the praise.

"Now, go ahead and fully control the game. Sever Kayaba's connection to 'Sword Art Online.' As for his hiding place, just send an email to the police. Whether they believe it or not is up to them."

Eriri removed her hand from Lala's head, then shared a set of coordinates with her.

"These coordinates mark Kayaba's current location. I discovered it while scanning this world yesterday. Just send these coordinates to the police."

"No problem." Lala nodded enthusiastically and quickly brought up a rectangular, translucent white screen, tapping away on it.

Now that she had full control over the game, freeing the trapped players was a simple task, leaving Eriri feeling a bit anticlimactic.

"Oh well, I'll wait for Asuna and Gabriel to arrive before deciding what to do next." Eriri then shifted her attention to the chat group, which she hadn't checked in a day.

Unsurprisingly, the group was bustling with activity, with thousands of messages exchanged in a single day. It was amazing how much they had to talk about.

After skimming through the chat log, she found that most of the conversations were trivial, as expected. If something major had happened, someone would have called out to her in the chat group.

A day had passed, and Kanae was still on her way to the location where the Twelve Demon Moons were known to appear. The lack of transportation was proving to be a significant hindrance.

Erica had successfully obtained her uncle Paolo Blandelli's permission to go to Sardinia. She planned to retrieve the Prometheus' Grimoire from Kusanagi Godou before preparing to slay a heretic god in the near future.

Arche had also managed to reach the Fifth Stage of the Second Level in her power, equivalent to a human magic caster over level forty, surpassing her former mentor, Fluder Paradyne, and capable of casting sixth-tier magic.

Despite her rapid progress, she hadn't abandoned her previous "Foresight" teammates and continued to carry out missions with them, gathering resources to pay off her family's debts and exchange for points in the chat group to further enhance her strength.

Her team had encountered Shalltear Bloodfallen earlier today while passing through a forest. Seeing the vampire, who was under the influence of the world-class item "Downfall of Castle and Country," terrified Arche. Knowing she had no chance against such a powerful foe, she quickly led her team away from the area.