In the blink of an eye, the ethereal light suddenly vanished, just as it had appeared.

What the hell was that? Although the illusion has disappeared, the feeling of nostalgia that sprouted is still not gone, and a heart-wrenching pain appears in the middle of my chest.

Childhood memories of seeing the girl running on the bank of the river seemed to be the closest person to him.

But it shouldn't be like that. I've been living in the Lingshi District since I was still sensible, and I shouldn't have such a deep forest and a beautiful river, and I haven't played with a black-haired girl with a straw hat by the river.

Eventually, things seemed to be moving in an inexplicable direction.

Am I really me, once again bothered by such doubts, I looked at the river with trepidation, and the faces reflected in the meandering water were constantly distorted and unrecognizable.

The first thing I have to do is forget the tingling aftertaste and listen to the pleasant continuity. Listening to it again, I felt nostalgic for the voice, but it was just a gut feeling, and it was still impossible to figure out whether it was the woodcutter's voice or not. Shaking his head slightly, he took another step towards the upper reaches of the river.

It was just as I was finally retracting my leisure from admiring the beauty around me that I realized that I was moving in a slightly left direction. It seems that the source of the sound is not along the creek, but not far from the forest on the left.

I flexed my count, and the incredible sound didn't always come from me. After about fifty beats, it will be interrupted for three minutes, and then it will continue to sound for fifty consecutive beats. It's a sound like this that only humans can make, I'm more and more convinced.

For three minutes of silence I continued to move in the same direction, and when the sound came again, I corrected my direction a little and moved forward again. Now he has left the river and returned to the forest. Once again, between the wonderful dragonflies, the cyan moths, and the giant mushrooms, they silently moved forward.

「…… Forty-nine...... Fifty."

Before I knew it, I whispered to fifty, and at that moment the sound stopped, I suddenly realized that the gap between the trees in front of me became clear. Is it the exit of the forest, maybe there is a village nearby? So he ran in the direction of the light.

Climbing up the staircase of tree roots, popping out of the shadows of ancient trees, you are greeted by a sight that can only be described as unexpected.

Although the forest has come to an end, there is still no village to be seen. But I didn't have time to care about the disappointment, and I opened my mouth to take in the scenery ahead.

The circular clearing that suddenly opened in the forest was much wider than the meadow I had woken up to before. The diameter is about 30 meters. The ground is still covered with golden-green moss, and unlike the forests that we have walked through before, there are no sheep's teeth here, and there are low bushes.

Then, in the middle of the clearing, there stood such an object that firmly attracted my attention.

How to say, how huge this tree is.

The diameter of the trunk is not less than four meters. In contrast to the broad-leaved forest with uneven branches and waves, the giant tree in front of me was a straight coniferous tree. Moreover, the bark of the tree was almost a dark black color, and when you looked up, the branches of the giant tree branched out several times and spread out in all directions. Although the Jomon cedar and American redwoods seen in photos and movies are also very large, the overwhelming presence of this tree in front of me is no longer the level of trees in nature, and it can only be described as an emperor.

I shifted my gaze from being unable to see through the top of the tree due to the dense foliage, and back to the vicinity of the roots. The snake-like roots spread out in a web around me, almost to the edge of the forest where I was. Rather, the tree seems to absorb nutrients from the ground without reservation, so that all plants other than moss cannot grow, and as a result, such a huge space is formed in the forest.

I realized that I had invaded the Imperial Garden, but I couldn't resist touching the branches of the giant tree, and the temptation made me take a step. I stepped on the winding roots of the tree many times, and at the same time looked up at the sky, and walked slowly like this.

I don't know how many times I sighed, but when I came to the trunk of the giant tree, I unconsciously forgot to be vigilant about my surroundings. That is, it is too late to realize that the time has come.

「——！？」

I held my breath as if someone had poked its head out to look at the other side of the tree trunk. The body bounced back half a step as if it were bent down. I almost put my right hand behind my back, and of course there was no sword there.

Fortunately, the first time I saw someone in this world, he didn't seem to be hostile or wary, but just tilted his head and looked at me incredulously.

It was a boy who looked the opposite—about seventeen or eighteen years old. Seemingly silky black and brown hair, swaying slightly in the wind. Short clothes and pants with the same texture as me. He used the roots of the giant tree as a long chair, leaned on it, and held a round thing in his right hand.

It's the look that's incredible. Although the skin is milky white, it cannot be said to be Western, nor does it look like an Oriental. The lines of the eyes and nose are slender and beautiful, and the pupils are dark blue, like characters from a manga.

Seeing this face of his, the mind ...... Or rather, there was another pain in the depths of the soul. But the feeling of well-being dissipated immediately. I forced myself to put aside this anxiety, and the first thing I had to do was make some declarations to this unhostile person. - But I don't have a clue what to say, or what tone to use before then. Just as I put on an idiotic expression and closed my mouth, the young man was the first to speak:

"Who are you? Where did it come from?"

There was a slight bit of an unusual accent – but it was very Mandarin.

I was reassured by the same shock I had when I saw the giant black tree. In this, it doesn't look like a different world, and being able to hear my native language is completely beyond my expectations. The alien boy in this style of clothing actually spoke a language that I was familiar with, and brought it to me

's sense of unreality, it's like entering a dubbed anime movie.

This is not the time to be in a daze, though. You have to think about it. I've been fighting my fate for a long time, and lately I've been able to smell rusty brains.

This world is a virtual world created by Tengfei Company.,Let's assume it's the game of Destiny.,For the teenager in front of me,I have the following guesses:(1) It's a test player in the game.,Like me, I have saved the memories of the real world.,(2) Although I'm a test player, my memory is limited.,Become a resident of this world.,(3) It's an NPC controlled by a program.。

So I have to choose safe words to talk to, and I have to see through the teenager's position. I wiped my sweaty palm on my pants, put on a smile, and opened my mouth to say:

"That...... My name is ......."

At the moment I was slurring my words. In this world, which is the most common name, Japanese style or Western style? While praying that this chanting would not look too unusual in both Japanese and Western styles, I said my name.

"—Qin Huai. I'm from there, and I'm kind of lost......

I pointed behind me, probably in the direction of the south, and saw the boy's eyes widen in surprise. Putting aside the round object he was holding in his right hand, he stood up as light as a swallow and pointed in the same direction.

"Over there...... The south side of the forest? From the town of Soya?"

"No, it's not, it's not there."

I finally resisted the embarrassment that I didn't take so quickly.

"Eh...... I don't know where it came from...... ...... town where you live so far?"

"Ah, uh-huh...... I can't remember. The only thing I know is my own name......

Then the other party should understand, I prayed desperately, but the young man's blue eyes showed a sympathetic light, nodded and said:

"Well, this forest is very deep, and if you don't know the language, you will definitely get lost. But it doesn't matter, there is a way out of the forest from here to the north."

"No, it's not, the ......."

Again, so I said the core word.

「…… I want to log out of the game."

Hearing my words of hope, the young man tilted his head and replied:

"Log out...... Or something? What were you talking about?"

So it seems certain.

He is not an NPC to test the player's costume, but is completely an inhabitant of the place, only with the concept of "virtual world". I was careful not to put on a disappointed face, and finally tried to hide the past with additional words.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I just said I wanted to get out of here. How so...... I want to find a place to live in a village or town, that's what it means."

He thought it was too reluctant, but the boy nodded in surprise.

"Huh...... It's the first time I've heard of that. Brunettes are also rare in this area...... Maybe you were born in the South."

"But, maybe so."

I smiled reluctantly, looking at the young man's innocent smile, and then the other party frowned as if he cared.

"Well, find a place to stay. My village is in the north, but there are few travelers, so there are no hotels or anything like that. But...... As long as you explain the reason, maybe the village chief of the village Murong will help you."

"Oh...... Well, that's great."

This is from the heart. In the case of villages, there may be staff members who take off there, or they can be monitored from the outside.

"Well, then, I'll go to the village. It's going north from here, right?"

Turning my gaze, it was indeed in the opposite direction from where I had come, and there was a narrow path that stretched into the distance. Before I could take a step, however, the boy stopped me with his left hand.

"Ah, wait. The village is guarded by soldiers, and all of a sudden a person like you wants to enter, and it is very troublesome to explain. I'll go with you, and I'll leave the explanation to me."

"That's a great help, thank you."

I smiled back and said, "Aren't you an NPC in this way?" and muttered inwardly. It's all too natural for a simulated personality who is given the ability to answer dialogue, and it's not like an NPC being so active in acting with me.

I don't know if I'm in the Russ development room in Roppongi or if I'm in Bay A

Sneaking up to the head office somewhere in EA.,But as the original owner of Fluctlight who made the teenager in front of him act.,It's probably a very kind character.。 When I leave this place safely, I must thank that man.

As I pondered this, the boy's expression became gloomy again.

"Ahhh......hh Not yet, though...... I still have work to do......

"Work?"

"Well, it's just lunch break."

My flickering eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of the cloth bag placed not far from the boy, which seemed to contain a round object resembling bread. It turns out that this is what he was holding in the first place. There is also a leather water bottle, which is really simple for lunch.

"Ah, I'm interrupting you to eat."

I craned my neck, and the boy smiled shyly.

"If you can wait for me to finish my work, I will accompany you back to the village and ask the village chief to find you a place to stay...... But it's going to take four hours."

I can't wait to run to the boy's village to find someone who can explain the situation, and although my mind is full of such thoughts, the thought of repeating the conversation I just walked on thin ice makes it troublesome. Four hours isn't too short, considering that the game's mechanics aren't supposed to be in sync with the outside time, the real world should only be an hour and a few minutes away.

And I didn't know why, I wanted to talk to this kind young man a little longer, so I nodded and said:

"It's okay, I'll wait for you. If it doesn't bother you, then please."

Then, the young man smiled even more happily than before, nodded and replied:

"Well, then you can sit here and wait a while. Yes...... I haven't told you my name yet."

Holding out his right hand to me, the boy continued,

"My name is Mouou. Please take care of me, Qin Huai."

*

The boy looked slender on the outside, but it felt very powerful to hold it, and I repeated his name several times in my mouth. I don't have the memory of the name, and I can't make out the language of the name, but for some reason there is always a sense of familiarity when I say it. The boy named Mou'ou put down his hand and sat down on the root system of the giant tree again, took out a round pie from the cloth bag, and handed it to me.

"This, that's embarrassing."

I waved my hand, but the other party didn't mean to take it back.

"Qin Huai should be hungry too, right? I didn't eat anything."

Saying this, I felt a strong feeling of fasting, and I couldn't help but cover my stomach. Although the water is delicious, it is not enough to fill your stomach.

"This one, but ......."

There was no need to worry about it, he slipped the pie into my hand, and I had to accept it. Teenager - Mouou smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's okay. I'm talking about you, but to be honest, I don't really like this pie."

「…… Well, I'll take it, thank you. Actually, I'm fainting from hunger."

So, smiling, Mul' bent down and sat down at the root of the tree, and then I added.

"That, just call me Qin Huai."

"Oh? Then, you can call me Mu Ou too...... Ah, wait a minute."

Mouu raised his left hand, interrupting my impatience to put the pie in my mouth.

「……？」

"No, you can only bring this kind of bread that lasts for a long time, I have to say."

With that, Mouu waved his left hand and pointed to the bread on his right hand. Extend your index and middle fingers at the same time, and bend the other fingers. In such a pose, a trajectory of several characters was drawn in the air.

I watched in silence as Mul's two fingers tapped the bread with an uncanny metallic vibrating note, and a translucent rectangular frame glowing with a lilac glow appeared. It is about fifteen centimeters wide and eight centimeters high. From a distance, this quadrangular shape shows the simple font of Chinese and Arabic numerals, which it is familiar with. This, no doubt, is the Mandate of Heaven action bar.

I opened my mouth and whispered in my head.

- Confirmed. This is neither a reality nor a different world, but a virtual world.

This confirmation really calmed me down, and at the same time, my body became lighter while relaxing. I'm 99% sure, but the lack of conclusive evidence of this uneasiness has affected my whole body.

I still don't know where I'm coming from, but I'm sure that this is a virtual world, so I'm at least able to deal with the current situation. Anyway, I tried to pull up the window, so I stretched out two fingers of my left hand.

Imitating the action he just saw, he drew the word "open" in the air, and he clicked the pie tremblingly, and the sound of the bell version of the effect sounded, and a purple window popped up. I leaned my face closer and stared.

The realistic text column is very concise. There is only a text introduction, a brief description of the origin of this pie, and what durability it has, and that's all. It is very reminiscent of the durability value that the pie is set. What will become of the bread when this number becomes zero, I thought about it as I looked at the number, and when I saw this action, Mouou, who was in front of me, said as if surprised:

"I said, Qin Huai, could it be that you have even seen "Window of Immortals" for the first time?"

Looking up, Mul'ou held the pie that had disappeared from the window, tilting his head to look at me. How could it be, I hurriedly put on such a smiling face. And hurriedly touched the surface of the window with his left hand, only to see that the window turned into particles of light and disappeared, and his heart was slightly relieved.

Thankfully, Mouou didn't look more skeptical.

"There's a lot more to Destiny, so you don't have to rush to eat it. If it weren't for summer, it wouldn't be all there is."

Probably, the "Mandate of Heaven" he is talking about is the durability of props expressed in numerical terms, and the introduction that shows these is "Window of Immortals". The action command that called up the window was embodied in words, and Mu Ou did not see it as a system function, but as some kind of religion or a magic phenomenon.

There's a lot to think about, but let's put that aside and satisfy your most important appetite right now.

"Well, you're welcome."

As soon as the words fell, I took a big bite, but the hardness of the pie made me roll my eyes. But before I got to the point of spitting it out, I started chewing with all my strength. I didn't expect the virtual world to be able to make the feeling of chewing teeth so real.

I saw Mu Ou, who was eating the pie, frowning like me, and said to me with a wry smile, "It's not delicious, this one."

I quickly shook my head.

"No, not to that point."

"Don't force it. Although I bought this one at the pie shop when I left the village, it was still early in the morning, so I could only buy the leftovers from yesterday. I don't have time to go back at noon......

"Eh, ......, wouldn't it be nice if you brought food from home......

My unintentional remarks made Mouou, who was holding the bread, bow his head. I shrank back when I said these things too inconsiderately, but the other person quickly raised his head and smiled slightly.

"A long time ago...... During my lunch break, someone came here to bring me food. But, now ......."

The blue pupils swayed, and I felt a strong sense of loss, and I suddenly forgot that this world was a made thing, and stood up.

"How's that guy doing......?"

Hearing this, Mouu looked up at the treetops above and fell silent, but finally slowly opened his mouth.

「…… It's a childhood sweetheart. A girl as old as me...... Since childhood, we have been playing together from morning till night. Ever since I was given this vocation, she has been bringing a bento every day...... But, just six years ago...... That is, in the summer of the year I was eleven years old, the law enforcers came to the village...... took her to the Forgotten Immortal Gate......

Enforcers. Forget the immortal gate.

It's a word for some unknown reason, but it's supposed to be some kind of order maintainer, and the capital of this world, I silently let him continue,

"It's all ...... My bad. On the day off, I went with her to explore the northern caves...... When I came back, I took the wrong path, and I crossed the Finish Mountains to the other end. Do you know? It's recorded in the taboo catalog.,It's never allowed to step in.,That demon domain.。 Although I didn't get out of the cave, she fell and pressed her hands on the ground outside...... But because of this, the enforcers came to the village and chained her in front of everyone......

The bread in Mou'ou's right hand was crushed.

「…… I want to help her. I want to be taken away with her, and I want to attack the enforcers with an axe...... But neither hands nor feet moved. I just watched her get taken away......

Mu Ou, whose expression was lost, looked at the sky like this, and his lips showed a slight look of self-deprecation. Put the crushed bread in your mouth, lower your head and chew it continuously.

Not knowing what to say, I put a loaf of bread in my mouth in the same way, chewed it, chewed it desperately and went into contemplation.

There are windows, so this is a virtual world based on real technology, and some people are conducting some kind of experiment in this world. If so, why did such an "incident" occur? I swallowed the bread in my mouth and asked these words in a moment of hesitation.

「…… How's she going, you know what......?"

With his eyes closed, Mouu shook his head slightly.

"The enforcers said that after the interrogation, they would be executed...... However, I don't know exactly what kind of punishment will be imposed. I once tried to ask the village chief...... I think it's a death sentence...... but ah, Qin Huai, I'm sure she's still alive."

Swallowing the last loaf of bread, I tried to ask Mouou.

"In that case...... How about we go to find it? Go to that, Forget the Immortal Gate."

As soon as I said this, I felt troublesome. These words made Mu Ou react unexpectedly.

The boy looked at me in amazement for a few seconds, and whispered in a tone of disbelief.

「…… This fairy tree village is located in the northernmost part of the Northern Empire. To get to the southernmost Forgotten Immortal Gate, it takes a week to use the fastest flying sword. On foot, it takes two days to reach the nearest town, Sota. And you have to leave at dawn."

"So...... As long as you can prepare well......

"I said Qin Huai. You're about the same age as me, so you must have been given a vocation by the village where you live, right? Isn't it impossible to leave your vocation and embark on a journey?"

「…… yes, yes."

I nodded like a chicken pecking rice, carefully observing Muou's appearance.