Third person POV
Later, at 5:23 p.m., the Nitama Group decided to forfeit their progress and turn back to go home after clearing the 20th floor of the Tower. But all of them were happy that their progress was more than last time. So, the party did so and went back to the ground floor via an elevator, before exiting the Tower completely. After that, all of them went to a sushi restaurant to celebrate their major progress. There all of them ate sushi and other sushi dishes and drank water and iced tea. Roxas liked Makimono Roll sushi that was wrapped in green seaweed, munching on it while using a pair of wooden chopsticks. Roxas and Arashi even took selfies of themselves and their friends in the place. But strangely, Anko and Hideyoshi, despite being ghosts, were seen in the photos. How that was even possible was a mystery, but those two deceased players had their outlines highlighted in white. Roxas, Shuto, and Minato eventually paid for the meal.
After that, all of them left the restaurant and spent some time at a local cinema to watch a movie. Many available movies were considered, but one was considered: a Filipino movie. The reason why is that they considered it as a good one. So, all of them bought tickets for it and some snacks and went to watch it. The movie was an old, comedic one, having been made in the 1990s. Roxas found it very funny and full of slapstick comedy. His friends felt the same way, too. The movie lasted for 2 hours and 10 minutes, and once it was over, all of them stood up, grabbed their belongings, and left the cinema, going home finally.
Along the way, Arashi parted ways with them since he lives in a shared house east of the school and went on his way. After that, Roxas and the others went to their shared house. Later, at home, while cooking some Tamagoyaki for dinner, Shuto was mixing a sauce made of mayonnaise and ketchup when his phone rang with a new notification of an email. Hearing that, he grabbed it and opened it, only to see an email from one named Mai Matsumoto. That email was made 1 month ago, and ever since then, no one noticed it. but Shuto did. So, the email goes like this:
"Dear someone,
Please, help me. The game, Sword Arts Online, is getting more brutal towards me. I am not going to survive. Please, anyone, help me get Kirito and his friends back to their senses. Help me!
Analyst Matsumoto Mai."
After reading it, Shuto was stunned and wanted to join Roxas and Minato on the spirit guardian bandwagon, accepted it by writing a reply email by responding,
"Dear Mai-chan,
I hereby accept your request. You can rely on me, the Poet Knight. I'll do my best to do your mission, my friend."
Poet Knight,
Hatanaka Shuto."
After that, Shuto pressed Send, sending his reply to the space of email. And then, a few moments later, a flash of light flashed before him, blinding him temporarily. "Ah! My eyes!" Shuto shouted. After that, the flash subsided, and Shuto opened his eyes, wondering what had happened. And then, the spirit of Mai came out of him, greeting him solemnly, "Hello there, Shuto-kun."
Shuto heard that and looked to his right, only to be stunned to see her. "Woah! Who are you?"
"My name is Matsumoto Mai," replied Mai back positively and solemnly. "Nice to meet you, Shuto-kun."
Now happy that he had a spirit guardian of his own, Shuto responded back, "Nice to meet you, too. I'll do my best to do your mission for me."
Mai then smiled. "Thank you for your help. I'll guarantee your immortality in this game."
"Ah, that was one of your perks and benefits of me being in your contract and bond, right?"
"Yes, one of them. And…"
Mai touched Shuto's forehead, causing a flash of light to appear before him, and it subsided seconds later.
After that, Shuto suddenly saw his hologram screen, and it showed him that his stats had been boosted somehow. "What the…?" Shuto was stunned. His new level is now Level 36. "There, I hereby bestowed my stats to you," Mai meekly said to him. Remembering what had happened to Roxas' and Minato's stats, Shuto happily accepted it with gratitude, and Mai was happy for him.