After returning to the inn, Akimi and the others did a quick task assignment before each heading back to their rooms to rest.
Kirito, who possessed the certification from Lyusula, was in charge of collecting the fruits of the Narsos Tree in the Quaking Rock Forest—coincidentally, his Spirit War quest would also take place there.
Yu Wenjun would be accompanying him.
Akimi, Asuna, and Argo were responsible for gathering Uruz Stones from the river north of Volupta.
Due to the tight schedule, Kirito and Yu Wenjun set off for the Quaking Rock Forest as early as 3 a.m.
But no matter how much hardship and resentment the two endured from lack of sleep, Akimi—sleeping soundly in the neighboring room—remained blissfully unaware.
When the time reached 7 a.m., Akimi was woken by the system alarm he had set.
Rubbing his eyes, he yawned and stretched lazily before getting up and slowly walking out of the room.
By now, the corridor of the inn was already flooded with sunlight.
Akimi walked over to the railing, looked down at the gradually bustling street below, and patted his cheeks to shake off the lingering grogginess on his face.
Leaning against the railing in a daze for a while, he heard the sound of a door unlocking from behind to the right.
Turning slightly, he saw Asuna walking toward him while stretching her body.
"Good morning, Asuna."
Leaning on the railing, Akimi greeted her with a slightly lazy tone.
"Mm, good morning."
Unlike the sluggish Akimi, Asuna looked full of energy.
She poked him in the arm and said with a helpless smile, "Hey, hey, is it really okay to be this lazy so early in the morning?"
Akimi rolled his eyes at her, then flicked her forehead lightly with his finger and said:
"I'm not like you, ginseng doll. We didn't get back to the inn until past eleven last night. How are you still so lively?"
"Hmph! You're the one acting like an old man, always lacking energy!" Asuna pouted, holding her forehead.
Akimi smiled without saying anything more.
After a brief silence, Asuna suddenly said, "Thinking back on it now, that NPC uncle selling the 'Sure-Win Secret Manual' was probably working for the casino…"
"I'm afraid it wasn't just that NPC uncle," Akimi said, curling his lip.
"That guy was probably only in charge of luring people from other towns into the casino. But just having guests isn't enough. According to what Nirrnir said, the 10% handling fee required when exchanging chips likely wouldn't even catch Korloy's attention…"
He paused, his gaze settling on the rooftop of the Volupta Grand Casino in the distance.
"If my guess is correct… there are people from the casino mixed in with the gamblers too. They wouldn't need many—just a few experts would be enough to rake in huge profits."
"But 'huge' only from our perspective. The real money is in the Monster Arena. There's no way Korloy's side actually lost nine matches in a row—they're probably trading wins and losses. So aside from rigging the monsters, they must have other cheating methods too."
"As long as they can manipulate the match results with those methods, even if their own monsters lose, they can still make money."
Hearing Akimi's words, Asuna puffed up angrily and said, "That's so awful! Miss Nirrnir is working so hard to protect the casino's reputation, and all Korloy and his people care about is making money."
Akimi gripped the railing and said nothing—because, in truth, he had a feeling that Nirrnir's side probably wasn't entirely clean either.
They just weren't as blatant about it as Korloy.
Korloy made it clear that he was there to milk money, while Nirrnir likely only used minor tricks.
Still, he could understand.
How could a gray industry like gambling ever keep its hands completely clean?
They were running a casino, not a charity—honestly, the fact they hadn't thrown in some sexy live dealers was already something.
There was no need to explain all that to Asuna—better to just keep it to himself.
It was fine to think these things, but saying them out loud would make him sound like a conspiracy theorist.
"Let's go. First, we should find somewhere to eat breakfast. Then it's time to go collect Uruz Stones."
The river north of Volupta didn't have an official name, but since it ran through the entire Virutia Prairie, the NPCs on the seventh floor simply referred to it as the Virutia River.
Virutia river was stretches over ten kilometers, but the River was so shallow that even the deepest parts barely reached above the thigh.
Uruz Stones are special minerals with a pure black color, about two centimeters in diameter, and a metallic sheen.
They're scattered along the riverbed of the Virutia River.
Although Uruz Stones have distinct features and the Virutia River's current isn't very strong, collecting them isn't that simple—because the riverbed is also full of other stones that look extremely similar.
After refraction through the water's surface, they're indistinguishable from real Uruz Stones.
And that's not all.
In the Virutia River, there are even little critters that still look like Uruz Stones even when taken out of the water—Virutia River Crabs, which are on the same level as Rampaging Boars.
Even though SAO doesn't simulate pain, getting pinched by those little guys' claws can still give you quite a shock.
Right now, Akimi stood with a black line of frustration on his face, staring at the small black crab clinging tightly to his finger with its pincers, still bubbling and gurgling from its mouth.
Suppressing the urge to crush the little thing into paste, Akimi pried open its claws, clutched it in his hand, and hurled it far into the distance—because Virutia River Crabs tend to summon others when they're close to death.
It had already been an hour since they started collecting Uruz Stones at the Virutia River, but Akimi had only managed to find less than ten.
Asuna, on the other hand, inexplicably had amazing luck and had already found twenty.
Even Argo had found more than ten.
Although the little crabs didn't deal much damage, getting pinched repeatedly had still reduced Akimi's HP by about one-tenth.
Asuna, who had come ashore to rest, called out gleefully, "Keep it up, Young Master Akimi! Argo and I have already finished our share—we're just waiting on you!"
Akimi shot her a mild glare at those words—what, is it my fault I have bad luck?
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