1
Asuna set the wake up alarm at 7:50 every day.
If there was a reason for setting such a time, it was because Kirito woke up at eight o'clock sharp. Asuna liked to wake up ten minutes earlier and stay in bed to watch him sleep soundly beside her.
This morning, Asuna was also woken up by the soft sound of the woodwind instrument. She gently turned around and lay down, supporting her cheeks with her hands as she looked at Kirito's sleeping face.
She fell in love half a year ago. Two weeks ago, they became partners. After they got married, they moved to the forest on the 22nd floor only six days ago. Even though he was the person she loved the most, there were still many things about Kirito that she was not aware of. Sleeping Face was one of them. The more she looked at him, the more she couldn't figure out his age.
Because of Kirito's calm and uncertain attitude, Asuna always felt that he was slightly older than her. However, when Kirito was in deep sleep, he was so innocent that he could even be called cute. He looked like a young man who was much younger than himself.
Although he felt that it was just asking about his age, it shouldn't hurt. Even if it was taboo to talk about topics in the real world, they were already husband and wife. In order to meet again in the real world, they had to exchange their names, addresses, and phone numbers first.
However, Asuna could not bring herself to say it.
Because she was afraid that once she mentioned the real world, the " married life " here would seem to become an imaginary and empty thing. To Asuna, the most important and only reality now was to live a stable life in her home in the forest. Even if her physical body in reality died without being able to leave this world, as long as she could live here until the last moment, she would not have any regrets.
'So, I'll wake up from my dream after a while.' Asuna secretly reached out her hand and stroked Kirito's cheek.
She was really naive.
At this point, there was no need to doubt Kirito's strength. The countless experience points he had accumulated since the closed beta, the levels he had obtained from the continuous walkthrough, as well as the judgment and willpower that supported these things. Even though he lost to the leader of the Blood Alliance Knights, Holy Sword Heavenleaf, Kirito was still the strongest player Asuna knew. No matter how severe the battlefield was, as long as he was by his side, it would not make anyone feel uneasy.
However, looking at Kirito who was lying beside her, she felt that he was an innocent and easily hurt younger brother. She couldn't control her emotions and felt that she had to protect him.
Lightly breathing, Asuna leaned out and hugged Kirito, saying in a very low voice,"
"Kirito…I like you the most. We must always be together.」
At this moment, Kirito moved slightly and slowly opened his eyes. Their gazes met at a very close distance.
[Wow!]
Asuna flew back in panic and sat on the bed. She said with a red face,"
"Good, good morning, Kirito... did you hear... what I just said...?"」
[Morning. What did you mean by that?」
Asuna waved her hands vigorously at Kirito, who was trying to sit up and not yawn.
[N-nothing, I didn't say anything!」
After finishing the breakfast consisting of poached eggs, black bread, salad, and coffee, Asuna took two seconds to clean up the table and clapped her hands.
"Then! Where are you going to play today?"
[I say, you…]
Kirito smiled bitterly.
"Don't say whatever you think.」
[Because I'm happy every day!]
This was the truth from Asuna's heart.
Even though it was a painful memory, Asuna's heart had always been frozen in a hard layer of ice during the year and a half before she fell in love with Kirito.
He sacrificed sleep to increase his skills and level. After he was promoted to the deputy leader of the Blood Alliance Knights, he would sometimes attack the maze at a high speed that made the members sigh. All he wanted to do was complete the strategy and leave this place. He also refused to participate in any activities that were not beneficial to the strategy as it was meaningless.
Thinking back, Asuna could not help but regret not meeting Kirito earlier. Ever since the day she met him, every day was filled with more colors and surprises than in the real world. If she was with him, even the time she spent here would become a rare experience.
Therefore, for Asuna, the time that she had obtained with great difficulty was comparable to precious gems. She hoped that the two of them could go to more different places together and talk about all kinds of topics.
Asuna put her hands on her hips and pouted."
"So Kirito doesn't want to go out and play?」
Kirito chuckled as he waved his left hand to summon the map and showed it to Asuna in visible mode. The window showed the connected forest and lake on this floor.
[Almost here.]
He was referring to a corner of the forest that was slightly further away from their home.
The twenty-second floor was a lower floor, so it was quite spacious. In terms of diameter, it should be more than eight kilometers. There was a huge lake in the center, the south bank was the main street area, the village of Golar, and the north bank was the maze area. The rest of the place was filled with beautiful conifer forests. Asuna and Kirito's hut was located at the southern end of the building, close to the outer area. Kirito was referring to a place about two kilometers northeast of his home.
"This is just a rumor I heard in the village yesterday... It is said that in the depths of the forest here... that will appear.」
[Huh?]
Asuna asked Kirito, who was smiling meaningfully,"
"What?"
[-Spectre.]
Asuna, who had been speechless for a while, confirmed with trepidation,"
"... Is that a ghost monster? Like a ghost or a goblin?"
[No, no, it's true.] Player…a human ghost, and a girl.」
[Woo...]
Asuna's expression instantly stiffened. She was confident that she was more afraid of this topic than ordinary people. It was so serious that when she was exploring the ancient city maze on the 65th and 66th floors, which was famous for its horror floors, she found all kinds of reasons to skip the guide.
"I-I mean, this is a game world made up of digital files. How can there be ghosts here?」
Asuna forced a smile and retorted seriously.
[That's hard to say ~~]
However, Kirito, who knew that spirits were Asuna's weakness, was very happy to add fuel to the fire.
" For example... the soul of a player who died with resentment, attached to the NERvGear that has been connected to the power supply... wandering around the practice area every night..."
[Don't say anymore-!]
"Wahaha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. That was just a thoughtless joke. Although I don't think there will be a real ghost, I'm going out anyway. Wouldn't it be good to go somewhere that seems like something will happen?」
[Sob...]
Asuna pouted and looked out the window.
The weather was good today as it was close to winter. The warm sunlight shone on the lawn of the courtyard. He felt that this was the worst time for ghosts to appear. Due to the structure of Ain Grand, he could not see the sun except in the morning and evening. However, during the day, there would be sufficient light to illuminate the entire training area.
Asuna faced Kirito and raised her chin."
"Alright, let's go! To prove that ghosts couldn't exist!」
[Then it's decided. If we don't meet today, we'll go at midnight next time.]」
[Absolutely not! I won't help such a bad person make a bento!」
[Cough cough, it's fine, it's fine. Pretend I didn't say anything!]」
After glaring at Kirito for the last time, Asuna smiled.
"Then hurry up and get ready. I'll be in charge of grilling the fish. Kirito, you cut the bread.」
After neatly making the fish burger and putting it into the lunch box, the two of them left at nine in the morning.
After stepping onto the grass in the courtyard, Asuna turned to Kirito and said,"
[Let me sit on your shoulder.]
[S-sit on my shoulder?]
Kirito replied in a panicked voice.
"Because it's boring to look at the scenery at the same height every time. This matter was very simple for Kirito's muscle strength, right?」
" This, this should be right…But, how old are you…"
"This has nothing to do with age! Alright, no one is watching!"
[It, it doesn't matter…]
Kirito couldn't take it anymore. He shook his head and squatted down with his back facing Asuna. Asuna lifted her skirt and sat on his shoulder.
"Alright, but if you dare to turn around, I'll beat you up ~~"
[Isn't this too unreasonable?]」
Kirito, who was complaining, stood up with ease, and Asuna's vision also rose in one breath.
[Wow! Look, you can see the lake from here!」
[I can't see!]
[Then, wait, I'll let you sit on my shoulder too.]」
「…………」
She placed her hand on the head of Kirito, who was hanging his head weakly, and said,"
[Let's go! The direction is north-north-east!"
Sitting on Kirito's shoulder, she smiled innocently. Asuna deeply felt the love and care she had for their lives. She had no doubt that she felt the most 'alive' in her 17 years of life.
After walking on the small path-although only the Kirito people were actually moving-for about ten minutes, they arrived at one of the lakes scattered across the twenty-second floor. Perhaps attracted by the sunny weather, several fishing master players were fishing on the lake early in the morning. The path passed through the hills surrounding the lake. Although it was still some distance away from the lake on the left, the players who noticed the two approaching waved in their direction. Everyone smiled, and some even laughed out loud.
[…Didn't you say that no one would notice!」
[Ahaha, there are still people.] Hey, Kirito, wave your hand too!"
[I don't want to!]
Although Kirito kept complaining, he did not ask Asuna to come down. Asuna knew that he found it interesting too.
Soon, the road descended to the right of the hill and extended into the deep forest. They shuttled through the huge conifer forest that looked like firs, walking slowly. The sound of leaves rubbing against each other, the sound of flowing water, and the chirping of birds added a wonderful accompaniment to the forest scenery in late autumn.
Asuna looked at the tree that was closer than usual.
[What a tall tree.] Hey, do you think you can climb this tree?」
[Hmm…]
Kirito thought about Asuna's question for a while.
"I think it should be possible as far as the system is concerned-do you want to try?」
[Forget it, I'll just use this as the next game topic. Speaking of climbing up...]
Asuna leaned out from Kirito's shoulder and peeked through the gaps in the trees at the distant periphery of Aingrunt.
[Aren't there pillars all over the outer perimeter that extend upward? He wondered…what would happen if he climbed up there.」
[Ah, I've tried it before.]
[Eh?]
Asuna leaned forward and stared at Kirito's face.
"Why didn't you ask me to go with you?"
"At that time, we weren't that close.」
"What? You're obviously the one hiding from me.」
[... I-I did?]
"Yes-no matter how I asked you out, you wouldn't even accompany me for a cup of tea.」
" That, that's because…Ah, let's not talk about that…"
As if to bring the topic back to the strange direction, Kirito continued,"
"In conclusion, you can't climb. Although it was surprisingly easy to climb up due to the uneven surface of the rock, when he climbed up to about 80 meters, he would suddenly receive a system error message and be scolded that this was a forbidden area!」
[Ahaha, you really can't do bad things.」
[This is not funny at all. At that time, I was so shocked that my hand slipped and fell down.」
"Eh, eh? You'll definitely die like this!"
"Yes, I also thought I was dead. If I had been three seconds late in using the crystal to transfer, I would have probably been included in the list of deceased soldiers.」
"This is too dangerous! Don't do that again!"
[You were the one who suggested it first!]
While they chatted, the forest grew deeper and deeper with each step. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but the chirping of the birds became sparse, and the sunlight shining from the trees also decreased.
Asuna observed her surroundings again and asked Kirito,"
[Then, then…where is the rumored location?]」
[This…]
Kirito waved his finger and used the map to confirm his current location.
[Ah, soon. We'll be there in a few minutes.]」
"Hmm... then, what's the specific content of the rumor?」
Although Asuna didn't want to hear it, she still felt uneasy.
[Speaking of which, this happened about a week ago when the Carpenter player came here to pick up wood. It seemed that the quality of the wood here was very good. When the players who were obsessed with collecting came back to their senses, the sky had already darkened. Just as he was hurrying home, a white shadow flashed in the shade of a tree a little further away.」
「…………」
Actually, this was Asuna's limit, but Kirito continued mercilessly,"
" Although I was a little flustered because I thought it was a monster, it turned out that it wasn't. It was a human, and it was said to be a petite girl with long black hair and dressed in white. She was slowly walking towards the other end of the forest. The player then realized that it wasn't a monster but another player, and when his eyes met…"
「…………」
[The arrow didn't appear.」
[Yi…]
He could not help but let out a small sound from the depths of his throat.
" How is that possible? The man thought about it and walked closer to her. He called out to her, but the girl suddenly stopped and slowly turned around to him."
[No, no, don't say anymore…]
"At this moment, the man discovered something. The girl's white clothes were transparent under the moonlight, and the trees behind them could be seen.」
「————!」
While trying her best to suppress her screams, Asuna grabbed Kirito's hair tightly.
" The man thought that if the girl turned around completely, she would die, so he started to run. When he finally ran to a place where he could see the village lights in the distance, he thought that there should be no problem here, so he stopped…and turned his head slightly…"
「————?」
[There's no one behind me. Congratulations."
[... Kirito, Kirito, you idiot!」
Asuna jumped down from Kirito's shoulder and was about to smash him on the back when she saw that.
In the depths of the Dark Forest during the day, a white shadow appeared beside a conifer tree trunk some distance away from the two of them.
Asuna felt a strong sense of foreboding and stared at the unknown object with trepidation. Although she was not as powerful as Kirito, Asuna's enemy searching skills had reached a certain level. The strengthening effect of the skill was automatically activated, and the resolution of the area where one's gaze was focused instantly increased.
The white object seemed to be floating in the wind. It wasn't a plant or a rock. It was cloth. To be precise, it was a simple dress. Beneath the hem of her dress were two slender feet.
A young girl stood there. The young girl was wearing the same white dress that Kirito had described. She stood there silently and looked at the two of them.
Asuna, who felt that she was about to lose consciousness, forced out a hoarse voice,"
[Kirito…Kirito, over there…]
Kirito followed Asuna's line of sight and his body instantly stiffened.
[This, this can't be true...]
The girl didn't move at all. She just stood a few dozen meters away from the two of them and stared at them. Just as Asuna was mentally prepared that she would definitely faint if the other party came any closer-
Suddenly, the girl's body swayed. There was a faint thud in her ear. The girl fell to the ground like a robot doll without any kinetic energy.
[Then…]
Kirito's eyes instantly sharpened.
[It's not a ghost!]
He shouted and ran out.
[Kiri-Ren, wait a minute!]
Asuna, who had been left behind, quickly called Kirito to stop, but he ran toward the girl on the ground without looking back.
[Really!]
Asuna had no choice but to get up and chase after him. Although he was still a little scared, he had never heard of a ghost fainting. No matter how he thought about it, it must be a player.
By the time they arrived at the bottom of the conifer a few seconds later, Kirito had already picked up the girl. She had yet to regain consciousness. Her eyes with long eyelashes were tightly shut, and her two arms were weakly hanging by her side. As a precaution, he stared at the body in the dress, but he didn't find any transparent parts.
"I-should be fine, right?"
[Hmm…]
Kirito looked at the girl's face and replied.
" Even so... this world does not breathe, and its heart does not beat..."
In SAO, the reproduction of human physiological activities was almost completely omitted. Although he could breathe in air spontaneously and feel the air flowing through his windpipe, this virtual body would not have any unconscious breathing behavior. The same was true for the beating of the heart. Although there would be a thumping feeling when he was nervous or excited, he could not feel the heartbeat of others.
" But since it hasn't disappeared... that means it's still alive. But this is really…quite strange…"
After Kirito finished speaking, he tilted his head.
[Strange?]
" Because I can touch it, it's not a ghost. However, the arrow…did not appear…"
[Ah…]
Asuna focused her gaze on the young girl again. However, as long as it was a moving object in Ain Grand, whether it was a player, a monster, or even an NPC, the colorful arrow that would appear the moment the target was locked onto did not appear. He had never encountered such a phenomenon before.
[Is this some kind of bug?]
[Perhaps. If this was a normal online game, he would definitely have to call the GM. However, there was no GM in the SAO…and not only was there no arrow, she was too young for a player.」
Indeed. Kirito's body was too small in his arms. He should be less than ten years old. In principle, NERvGear had an age restriction. Remember, children under the age of 13 were prohibited from using it.
Asuna gently reached out and touched the girl's forehead. A cold but smooth touch came over.
" Why... why would such a young child be in SAO..."
She bit her lips and prepared to get up. She said to Kirito,"
"Anyway, we can't leave her here. When she woke up, she should know something. Bring her back to our house."
[Okay, let's do that.]
Kirito stood up with the girl in his arms. Asuna looked around. There was only a huge tree trunk that had been cut off and decayed nearby. She could not find anything that seemed to be the reason why the girl was here.
The two of them ran out of the forest along the same path they came from. When they returned home, the girl still had not regained consciousness. He let the girl lie on Asuna's bed and covered her with a blanket. The two of them sat side by side on the Kirito bed opposite him.
After a short silence, Kirito said intermittently,"
[The only thing we can be sure of now is that since she can move to our house, she's not an NPC.」
[Yeah…]
The NPCs controlled by the system had fixed coordinates within a certain range and could not be moved by players at will. If one touched or hugged an NPC with their hands, a harassment warning window would pop up within a few seconds and they would be sent flying by an unpleasant impact.
Kirito nodded slightly at Asuna's agreement and continued to make more speculations.
"And it's not an event that activates any mission. Even if that's the case, the quest list window should have been updated the moment he came into contact with her…So, I think the most likely scenario is that this child is a player who got lost over there.」
Kirito glanced at the bed and continued,"
"If he didn't bring the crystal or didn't know how to transfer it, he should have never been to the training area since he logged in and stayed in the 'Town of Beginning'. Although I don't know why she's here, there should be players in the Starting Town who know this child…She might even have parents or guardians.」
[Yes, I think so too. No matter how he thought about it, he did not think that such a young child would log in alone. He should have come with his family…It would be good if he was safe.」
As if she was about to swallow the last sentence, Asuna turned to look at Kirito.
"Hey, will her consciousness recover?」
"Well, since it hasn't disappeared, it means that there's still signal communication with NERvGear. She should be sleeping now, so she should wake up soon…」
Although Kirito nodded his head vigorously, his words were still filled with hope.
Asuna got up and knelt in front of the girl's bed. She reached out her right hand and gently stroked the girl's head.
Although she was in such a situation, she was still a beautiful girl. Rather than saying that she was a human child, the aura she emitted was closer to that of a demon. The color of her skin was as pure white as alabaster, and her long black hair shone with a gorgeous light, as well as a clear outline with an exotic flavor. If this child opened his eyes and smiled, he would definitely be very charming.
Kirito also sat down beside Asuna. Trembling, he reached out his right hand and stroked the girl's hair.
"She should be less than ten years old…only around eight years old.」
"Something like that... he's definitely the youngest player I've ever seen.」
"Yes, although I knew a young beast tamer before, she should be thirteen years old.」
This was the first time Asuna had heard of this, and she couldn't help but stare at Kirito's face.
"Mmm ~ So you have such a cute friend.」
"Yes, sometimes there will be emails... Ah, that's the only way. There's nothing between me and her!」
"Is that so? Kirito is very slow."
Then, she turned her head away angrily.
Kirito, who seemed to have noticed that the atmosphere had become a little strange, stood up and said,"
"Oh, it's already so late. Let's eat Chinese food."」
"I'll ask you about this later.」
After glaring at him, Asuna stood up as well. She decided to let Kirito go for now and smiled.
[Alright, let's eat the lunchbox.] I'll make tea."
The late autumn afternoon slowly passed. Even when the red sunlight from the outside had completely disappeared, the girl was still asleep.
After pulling up the curtains in the living room and turning on the lights, Kirito, who had been to the village, returned. He shook his head speechlessly and told her that he had not received any information about the girl.
Neither of them was in the mood to enjoy dinner. After finishing the simple soup and bread, they began to check the newspapers that Kirito had bought.
Although it was called a newspaper, it was different from the stack of papers in the real world. It was only a magazine-sized parchment. There was a system window-like screen on the surface of the paper, which could switch between the webpage mode to display the information collected.
Because it was a player-run strategy website, the content was very diverse. From the beginning to the end, there was a simple guide, a FAQ, and a list of items. There were also fields for finding things and people. The two of them felt that someone might be looking for the girl, so they focused on this part. However-
[No…]
[Well, no...]
After spending dozens of minutes reading all the newspapers, the two of them looked at each other in disappointment. Now, he could only wait for the girl to wake up before asking her.
If it was an ordinary night, the two would often chat or play simple games until late at night, or go out for a walk or do things that they would not normally do. However, he was not in the mood today.
[Sleep early today.]
[Yeah, that's good too.]
Kirito agreed with Asuna's suggestion.
He turned off the lights in the living room and entered the dormitory. As one of the beds was given to the girl, they had to share the other bed-as they did every night-and they hurriedly changed into their pajamas.
After turning off the lights in the bedroom, the two of them lay on the bed.
Kirito had many special abilities, and falling asleep quickly should be one of them. Just as Asuna turned around to talk to him, he had already fallen asleep with rhythmic breathing.
[Really.]
Asuna complained in a low voice and turned to face the girl's bed on the other side. The black-haired girl continued to sleep in the light blue darkness. Even though he still didn't want to think about the girl's past, looking at her like this, his thoughts would always drift in that direction.
It would be fine if the girl lived with her parents, siblings, or other guardians until now, but if she came to this world alone, she would spend two years in fear and loneliness. This kind of life would definitely be unbearable for an eight or nine-year-old child. If it was him, he might have gone crazy long ago.
Maybe-Asuna imagined the worst-case scenario. If the reason why the girl was wandering in the forest and fainted was because of her mental state, then she would have been killed. Of course, Ain Grand didn't have a psychiatrist or anything like that, nor did he have a system administrator that he could seek help from. It would take at least half a year to complete the strategy, and it was not something that could be done with just Kirito and Asuna's hard work. The two of them had left the front line, and some of the players, including the two of them, were too high-leveled, making it difficult to form a balanced team.
No matter how much pain the girl was in, she could not help at all. Thinking of this, an unbearable pain suddenly struck Asuna's heart. She subconsciously got off the bed and walked towards the sleeping girl.
Stroking the girl's hair for a while, Asuna gently lifted the quilt and lay down beside the girl, hugging her small body tightly with her arms. Although the girl's body was still motionless, her expression seemed to have softened. Asuna said softly,
" Good night, I hope you wake up tomorrow..."
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