Sword Art Online: Moonlight Swordman.

"You serious?" Ago's eyes lit up suddenly. She leaned toward Ren, her voice a mix of excitement and doubt.

"Yeah." Ren replied calmly, as if talking about the weather.

"But…" she suddenly lowered her gaze, fingers tapping lightly on the armrest, "I'm not good with weapons, especially one-handed swords… The only weapon I know that you could use from the first to the seventh floor was looted clean ages ago on Floor One…"

She looked up, eyes glinting slightly. "You could ask Kirito… and give me the cloak."

Ren narrowed his eyes. A breeze passed by, ruffling the strands of hair on his forehead.

"Nice idea…"

Ago blinked. "Really?"

"No," Ren said flatly. "I'd rather wear this cloak to meet him than go bare just to trade for a mid-tier tip."

"Bare? That cloak isn't even your main armor!"

"This cloak gives me peace of mind. Same as that dagger did for you earlier."

Ago pouted, looking like someone who just got checkmated in a game she thought she was winning.

"This is different."

"How?"

"Mine doesn't boost stealth rate," she muttered, crossing her arms and turning away. "You're the type who gets good gear and just hoards it to mess with everyone else."

Ren didn't respond. He simply stood up, hands clasped behind his back, tilting his head slightly.

"Then… keep being mad."

Ago pouted. "If it weren't for the fact that there's no decent gear on the lower floors, I wouldn't even bother eyeing your cloak. I know there are plenty of items that give better stealth bonuses."

"Then go get them," Ren replied, not looking at her, fingers brushing lightly over the edge of the cloak for emphasis.

"Of course they're not here in these low floors!" Ago practically snapped, fists clenched. "You think I don't want to?

Those kinds of items only start showing up from Floor Five, and even then, they're limited! You have to claw for every single one!"

Ren raised an eyebrow, still calm. "Which is why… you're lucky I'm around."

Ago stared at him like she was weighing whether or not to kick him.

"Don't say stuff like that like I'm supposed to be grateful."

"You're thinking it, though."

"No I'm not!" she shot back, turning away quickly. "I'm just mad that people like you always end up with gear others would bleed for."

Ren chuckled softly, the look in his eyes somewhere between amusement and self-mockery. "That's because I go where others don't dare step."

A moment of silence spread between them. Even the space around them seemed to slow down slightly.

Ago paused. She wasn't smiling anymore. "Then why are you still hanging around here?"

"Because my level's low," Ren answered, as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.

Ago blinked, then let out a huff that wasn't quite annoyance or resignation. "That kind of answer… No one can stand you."

She turned away again, arms crossed, but after a while, let out a long sigh.

"Fine… I'll send you a few secret hunting spots. Shortcuts not many people know. Some of those monsters drop rare materials. If you're careful, you'll level up fast."

Ren nodded. "I owe you this one."

"No, not 'owe'." Ago looked at him, then pointed at the cloak on his shoulder. "I call this… a long-term investment."

Ren let out a chuckle.

"And be careful, okay?" Ago's tone dropped, softer now, almost sincere. "I don't want you vanishing somewhere stupid with that cloak still on."

Her last words faded into the rustling breeze, as if they were swept away by the leaves at the edge of the forest. But Ren had heard them.

He remained seated for a while, quietly finishing the last of his dinner, letting the warmth in his throat ease the strange aftertaste of the conversation… He hadn't spoken that much to anyone in a long time… at least, not that he remembered.

The sky began to dim.

Ren stood up and walked toward the training yard. He stripped off his worn leather armor, changing into a simple light brown tunic, plain, but snug enough to move freely in.

That entire evening, Ren didn't rest.

The wind through the trees, the sound of boots brushing earth, the blade carving invisible arcs through the dusk, everything blended into the steady rhythm of his training.

By the time his shoulders were numb and his hands stiff, Ren finally paused to check his system interface.

[Weapon Mastery: One-handed Sword – 143/1000]

A modest number, but the true result of a full day of combat and a night of intense training. If he kept up this pace, in about a month, he'd reach the next rank.

Of course, things were never as simple as the numbers suggested.

The higher you went, the harder mastery increased. Progress slowed, almost as if the game itself was testing the player's patience.

Ren didn't sigh. He wasn't discouraged.

He simply nodded, sheathed his sword, and turned quietly away from the cold training yard.

The night was still long…

...

The next day, Ren got out of bed very early.

The sky was still pale with mist when he slipped on his familiar cloak. His eyelids were heavy, muscles sore from the previous night's training, but Ren didn't complain. He simply stood up.

Not because of some motivation pushing him forward, but because he knew: if he didn't go now, the quests he had accepted would disappear.

In the system, low-level quests often came with time limits, usually daily. And among them were two quests he hadn't been able to complete yesterday.

If he didn't get there in time to report or continue them, they would automatically vanish from the quest interface. No warnings, no reminders.

Just a line that faded out and disappeared as if it had never existed.

Ren exhaled softly, his breath dissolving into the early morning mist that still clung faintly to the horizon. He walked slowly down the damp stone stairs, each step as light as if he were passing through a dream not yet broken. A thin layer of mist drifted along the path, curling like silver smoke among the tree branches.

The world around him was still quiet, with only the soft rustle of wind through dew-covered leaves, and somewhere in the distance, the creak of a tavern door being shut.

Ren wasn't in a hurry. He let his feet lead him through the winding turns, letting his mind drift with those small ambient sounds, a rare moment of stillness amidst long days filled with blood and violence.

Eventually, the plaza emerged from the mist. A pale light filtered through the leaves of the ancient tree at its center, illuminating the quest board.

Ren picked up his pace slightly, partly because his body had warmed up from the walk, partly because he didn't want to lose out on good quests. The drowsiness gradually faded, replaced by a mild tension in his muscles from the motion.

But as soon as he arrived, he had to pause.

"Crowded…" Ren muttered to himself, frowning at the scene ahead. "Even more than yesterday, it seems."

Though the sun had yet to fully rise, dozens of people had already gathered around the quest board. Murmured conversations buzzed through the plaza like a disturbed beehive.

He pushed his way through the crowd, his ears subconsciously picking up snippets of the chatter around him.

"Yesterday's quests haven't reset yet?"

"Maybe they're still there… or someone already picked them up."

"We should try NPC-delegated quests instead of scrambling over what's on the board…"

"Heard someone saw it yesterday afternoon."

"It? What do you mean?"

"An Elf. Someone spotted an Elf on the forest edge at dusk."

"Sounds like nonsense."

"Don't know… but it might be worth checking out, right?"

"Don't waste time on baseless rumors. We need levels, not daydreams."

Ren stood still in the swirl of chaotic voices, ears listening but eyes fixed on the damp stone pavement below.

Only when someone brushed past and mentioned the word "Elf" did his eyelids twitch slightly. A small ripple of reaction.

"Elf…?" Ren murmured to himself. Even if it was just an unsubstantiated rumor, that word seemed to strike a deep, quiet chord in his subconscious.

It took a while before he looked away from the ground and turned his gaze to the quest board, the thing he had intended to do from the beginning.

Without hesitation, he checked on the two monster-hunting quests from the day before. The system had retained his progress. That meant no need to search for new quests, saving time.

"Just finish what I started."

Ren left the plaza, taking a narrow path beside the main building. He remembered Ago's advice from the night before, along with the detailed sub-map and tips about a hidden leveling field that not many people knew about.

The spot lay deep within the northern forest. To reach it, he'd have to cross a misty hill and avoid areas frequently occupied by leveling parties. But in return, the monsters there had a high spawn rate and decent experience gains.

Ren quietly adjusted the sword strap at his waist, his pace quickening.

If nothing unexpected happened, by the end of the day, he would hit level 11, a notable milestone that unlocked secondary skills and raised stat caps.

/Note: (I made a slight mistake earlier… It should have been level 10 last time. I've corrected that now.)

He didn't care what rumors the crowd was chasing.

Ren only needed a clear path, and the only thing he was seeking was progress.

He also understood why he himself, along with so many others, had been drawn into this game, lost in this world. It wasn't for rare gear, or even the thrill of flashy battles.

It was because here… one could clearly see the results of effort.

Every stat increase. Every skill refined. Every strike more precise than the last. All tangible proof that you had moved forward, even if only a little.

Ren tightened his fist slightly, as if to remind himself that his effort was real, and it belonged to him. No one could take it away.

Above, the sun rose beyond the distant treetops, brushing the edges of the clouds with a faint layer of golden light, quiet and delicate like the morning mist.

Ren walked on. Without looking back.

A new day had begun. Nothing special, yet within him, something felt as if it had quietly shifted. Like the second hand of a clock had just passed a tiny mark.