Chapter 10

"Get up!"

The next morning, Li Yalin was still enjoying the warm bed in the hotel, lost in a sweet dream, when a heavy object suddenly fell from above, landing on his stomach and instantly jolting him awake.

What's going on?

His stomach was hit, causing him considerable pain, and he was still confused about how he could be attacked while still in bed.

"Who are you?" When Li Yalin finally saw the object that had hit his stomach, he was momentarily stunned.

The girl had short, light brown hair tied into twin tails at the back, with a face that was both cute and a bit mischievous—she was a top-notch little loli!

But the key issue was that Li Yalin didn't know this top-notch little loli at all. How did she get into his room?

"Have you already forgotten me after just one night?"

"It's you?"

When the little loli spoke, Li Yalin immediately recognized her. Wasn't she the girl he had tried to get information from last night? Although he had expected her to be young, she looked even younger than he thought.

How old could she be? Twelve or thirteen?

"Have you really forgotten me?" Li Yalin's hesitation surprised the little loli. Not recognizing her was a normal reaction, right? Why was he so surprised?

"Is this our first real meeting?" Li Yalin scratched the back of his head, a bit speechless. He was still a bit dazed, especially since the little loli in front of him was so cute and somewhat familiar.

He had seen this hairstyle somewhere before.

"You're right. Let me introduce myself. My name is Silica. Please take care of me from today on." The little loli reacted to Li Yalin's words and then formally introduced herself.

So her name is Silica... Wait! Silica?

Right! No wonder she looked familiar. Isn't she one of the supporting characters in *Sword Art Online*?

It was only then that Li Yalin fully realized that he had randomly encountered a supporting character from the original story.

The reason he didn't recognize her immediately was that this was the real world. Although Silica's appearance and face were similar to the anime, they weren't a flat image, so there were differences.

Another reason was that Silica's appearances in the original story were few, with only one episode focusing on her. Li Yalin hadn't watched the anime in a long time, so it was understandable that he had forgotten.

"Why are you staring at me? I've already told you my name. Shouldn't you introduce yourself too?"

Silica was puzzled. After introducing herself, Li Yalin hadn't said a word, just stared at her, making it hard to understand what he was thinking.

"Oh, so your name is Silica. I'm... well... just call me Demon King."

When Silica called him, Li Yalin snapped out of his thoughts. Introduce himself? Although this was the real world, it was still a game, so he should give himself an ID.

But when asked to come up with a name, Li Yalin was a bit at a loss. The IDs he used to use in games didn't seem suitable here. What should he use?

At that moment, the words "Demon King" popped into his mind, but as soon as he said them, he regretted it.

Damn, this name is so middle school. If people call me this, it will be very embarrassing.

"Demon King? What a strange name."

Sure enough, when Silica heard Li Yalin's name, she burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking with amusement, almost too cute to handle.

But Li Yalin wasn't in the mood to admire Silica's cute smile. He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder, his expression suddenly serious.

"What are you doing?" Silica was startled by Li Yalin's sudden action and looked a bit flustered.

"Miss Silica, please forget that name. My name is Yalin. Just call me Yalin."

"Oh... oh... I understand."

Perhaps intimidated by Li Yalin's serious expression, Silica hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Very well, please take care of me."

Silica's response pleased Li Yalin, but as he said "please take care of me," he suddenly remembered what she had said during her introduction: "Please take care of me from today on." What did that mean?

"Wait! What did you mean by 'from today on'? Are you planning to follow me?" Li Yalin's eyes widened. While it was great to meet a character from the original story, he hadn't planned for Silica to follow him.

From what Silica had said, it was clear that if they were going to part ways, she wouldn't have said that.

"Of course. I thought about it all night. As a game newbie, I need an expert to guide me." Silica nodded, not hiding her intentions, but Li Yalin felt a lot of pressure.

"Um... I'm not planning to team up with anyone, and in this situation, it doesn't really matter if I'm a game newbie, right?" Li Yalin's lips twitched. What was this? Was he being clung to?

"Brother Yalin, do you think I'm a burden?"

"..."

Silica looked at Li Yalin with teary eyes, her expression pitiful. Her innocent face and those eyes that no one could resist made Li Yalin give in.

I really am too soft-hearted.

Li Yalin sighed, unable to refuse such a pitiful little girl.

Yeah, just soft-hearted, definitely not a lolicon!

Thus, Li Yalin, who had originally planned to go solo, began his team life. Although he was initially reluctant, after a few days of interaction, he realized that having a companion wasn't so bad.

Silica was a very smart child, not just cute. She could help Li Yalin in critical moments.

For example, when they went out to team up and fight monsters, Silica was initially a bit clumsy, but like Li Yalin, she found her place after the initial chaos.

When there were many monsters, she could help with finishing blows, and when there were no monsters, she could learn battle techniques. Most importantly, Silica started learning life skills, which was very important for Li Yalin.

Although Li Yalin couldn't learn the sword skills of this world, he could learn life skills and have a secondary profession in this world. However, there was a limit: each person could only inherit one secondary profession.

This made Silica's role even more important, as life skills were also crucial in this world.

For example, Silica was currently learning sewing, which allowed her to sew and combine materials obtained from monsters to create basic defensive equipment.

Although Silica's skill level was still low, she could currently only sew leather and cloth to make simple basic equipment.

But this was very important for Li Yalin. He had a lot of materials, but they were worthless as just materials. Only by turning them into finished products did they become valuable.

After realizing this, Li Yalin would take Silica out to level up every day. After noon, Silica would return to the city to practice sewing, while Li Yalin continued to fight monsters and collect materials.

It's worth mentioning that in this world, which had become reality, player levels were eliminated. The experience gained from killing monsters could only be used to improve skill levels.

However, as more monsters were killed, players would become stronger, just like Li Yalin.

Although he didn't understand why this was happening, at least one thing was clear.

If you want to become stronger, pick up your sword and keep fighting!