Currently, the players have only managed to clear Aincrad up to the 2nd floor. This death game started a little over a month ago, for a VRMMORPG, this is still early game for everyone.
Everyone started out at about the same time so not a lot of players can stand out even if they wanted to. Even famous guilds and strong squads are relatively unknown at the current stage. Wu Yan is the only one who the players can readily recall hearing about.
Soloing a floor boss is something players who have not fought or even seen bosses like field bosses and floor bosses cannot relate to. They know he’s incredible, they just don’t know how incredible that feat was.
Only those who fought bosses before can truly appreciate the difficulty of fighting a 1v1 fight with a floor boss and then winning decisively.
Wu Yan knew he wouldn’t be able to escape the curse of fame, being hounded by players who wanted him to help them in some way. Hence, Wu Yan turned off his friend request function. There are only a few friends on his friend list, including the Black Cats.
The other players can only sigh in dejection. A certain beauty in a hood also got blocked because she couldn’t send a friend request to Wu Yan.
After they found out about his personal circle of friends, the other players sought to use this circle of friends to befriend him. If he was in their shoes, he would do the same thing as well…
He chuckled and he scratched his cheek.
“I see, well, I am sorry…”
Wu Yan gave her a suggestion with a puzzled look.
“Wait, can’t you guys just turn off the friend request function? Why waste your time dealing with each request?”
“The guild master wanted to do things this way…”
Sachi said.
“The guild master said most of these requests came from people with serious motivations. He ignored the ones who obviously just wanted to fool around. He wanted to establish good relationships with famous guild masters, strong leaders of organized squads, and etc. He said this would be better for the development of our guild…”
Wu Yan laughed.
“Sounds like you guys are unreasonably blaming for this. I see only willing parties who want to bother and be bothered. It sounds like you guys should thank me for providing you the opportunity to network with other players…”
“But it’s so tiring…”
Sachi yawned and she rubbed her eyes.
“Onii-san, are you ever going to meet them?…”
“Not even if my life depended on it!”
Wu Yan shook his head.
Are you kidding me?
Just look at Sachi, she’s tired just dealing with friend requests and PMs. If he met them, even a few lives wouldn’t be enough to recover the energy he would spend on them.
She felt pity for the other players because she knew he would say something like that.
“I feel bad for the players who came here specifically to see you…”
“Wait, wut. They came to this hotel?”
Wu Yan couldn’t ignore that last part.
“Won’t I get swarmed by a deluge of players first thing in the morning tomorrow?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Sachi shook her head.
“A guild master called Heathcliff appeared and he dispersed the players camping around here.”
“Wew…”
Wu Yan released a sigh of relief.
“I have to thank that Heath…”
Wu Yan swiveled his head around towards Sachi.
“What was that? Repeat that player’s name one more time.”
“Heathcliff…’
Sachi frowned.
“He’s a guild master of the newly established guild known as the Knights of Blood Oath(KoB). They are not very numerous in number but the members are all elite players who are very capable on their own. They are rapidly rising in fame among all the guilds in SAO….”
“Knights of Blood Oath’s guild master, Heathcliff…”
Wu Yan squinted his eyes before he laughed.
“Now, this is interesting…’
Wu Yan sat up from his bed and he headed towards the door. Sachi called out to him in a hurry.
“Onii-san where are you going?…”
“I am going to meet Heathcliff!”
Wu Yan disappeared beyond the door to his room.
Downstairs…
The hotel is crowdier than usual.
There are a bunch of players in whitish red-gilded-caped-armor. It’s obvious they are going for the looks of a typical knight. They stood at all four corners as if they are guarding someone. They chased away the other players who wanted to go past them, they looked like bodyguards who are trained to protect the royal family. They certainly looked very impressive.
There is also a middle-aged man in red armor drinking beer leisurely at one of the tables here. He drank nonchalantly, giving everyone the impression that he’s one of the players standing at the top. This man is Heathcliff, the leader of this group of knights.
Wu Yan immediately recognized him when he came downstairs. Heathcliff also noticed Wu Yan as well. An invisible pressure fell when the two met eyes.
The Knights wanted to chase him back as they mistook him for a random player. When they felt the aura coming from Wu Yan, they were petrified in place.
Wu Yan gave everyone a quick scan before he looked at Heathcliff. There was a faint glimmer in his eyes unnoticeable to everyone else.
He looked like a veteran player who is a guild master of a famous guild. Anyone familiar with the original work knew the real identity of this man. He’s not Heathcliff, he’s actually Kayaba Akihiko.
The very same Kayaba Akihiko who made SAO and forced everyone here into a death game.
He was the man who created and changed the Full-dive (VR) community by himself. He is one of the few persons Wu Yan is interested in. However, he’s only slightly curious that’s all.
Across multiple worlds, Kayaba Akihiko is, at best, one of the more intellectual ones among other more impressive monsters.
At the same time, Kayaba Akihiko, or as he is currently known by, Heathcliff, watched as Wu Yan descended the stairs. He is very curious about the player who is recognized by players as the strongest player in SAO.
He could tell his subordinates were intimidated by Wu Yan’s presence. His lackeys are very experienced with famous or strong players, they weren’t supposed to behave like this. This means Wu Yan is the real thing.
Heathcliff raised his head and he opened his mouth in preparation for greeting Wu Yan when he did something that stunned Heathcliff.
The person actually turned around and he walked back upstairs.
Heathcliff called out just in time.
“Please wait!”
Wu Yan stopped and he replied curtly.
“What?”
Heathcliff knitted his brows when he heard Wu Yan.
This is the first time someone treated him like he’s just a random player off the streets.
“Sir…”
Heathcliff lifted the cup in his hand.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you grab a drink with me?…”
“No.”
Wu Yan shook his head.
“I came down here to see who had the ability to chase away the annoying players, I have done just that…”
“Oh?”
Heathcliff nodded without feeling insulted.
“Were you disappointed?”
“Disappointed?”
Wu Yan grinned at him. Then, he looked at the knights standing guard around him.
“Well, I will answer that question when you make your guild into the strongest guild in SAO…”
He walked upstairs without giving him another look.
Heathcliff narrowed his eyes and he smiled.
“Oh, I am sure we will meet again…’
