In the near-winter season, today is considered a good day. The warm sunlight shone on the lawn of the courtyard. It's the least time to be haunted by ghosts. Due to the structure of Aingrant, the sun cannot be seen directly except in the morning and evening, and there will be a sufficient light source to illuminate the entire practice area during the day.

Asuna faced Zhang Yu, raised her chin and said arrogantly.

"Okay, let's go! to prove that there can be no ghosts!"

"Hehe, Asuna. Since it was decided that I was going to go. If you don't meet it today, I'll go in the middle of the night next time. ”

"Jade, you say that again. Then you can prepare the bento, huh. ”

"Ahem, what, when I didn't say it!"

Finally, she glared at Zhang Yu again, and Asuna smiled.

"Then hurry up and prepare. I'll be in charge of grilling the fish, and you cut the bread. ”

The fish burger was neatly prepared and put into the lunch box, and the two went out at nine o'clock in the morning.

After stepping onto the meadow of the courtyard, Asuna turned to Jade and said.

"Let me sit on your shoulder."

"Sit on the shoulder?"

Zhang Yu lowered his head thoughtfully.

"It's boring to look at the same height every time. This matter is very simple in terms of jade's power stats, right? ”

"Well, okay. No way...... Come on. ”

Zhang Yu showed a helpless expression, shook his head and squatted down with his back to Asuna. Asuna lifted her skirt and stepped over his shoulders.

"Okay, Jade. But if you dare to turn your head, I don't guarantee what the consequences will be~~"

"Okay, good, don't turn your head......"

Zhang Yu, who was smiling bitterly, stood up with a relaxed movement, and Asuna's vision also rose in one breath.

"I've seen everything tonight, but Asuna is still so shy......"

"Wow! You see, you can see the lake here! ”

"I can't see it yet!"

"Well, wait, I'll let you sit on my shoulder."

"Ahem......... That's still it. ”

When Zhang Yu thought of that scene, he felt like he was going to sweat on his head. In the face of Asuna, who is sometimes off-line and willful and arrogant, he can only show submission.

Asuna placed her left hand on Zhang Yu's head, and raised her right hand high in front of her.

"Let's go! Direction: North, North, East! ”

Sitting on the shoulder of Zhang Yu, who was walking step by step, with an innocent smile, Asuna deeply felt the love for this life between the two. She has no doubt that she must be the most "alive" feeling in her seventeen years of life.

After walking on the path for more than ten minutes, we arrived at one of the lakes scattered on the twenty-second floor. Probably attracted by the windy and sunny weather, several angler players hang their lines on the surface of the lake early in the morning.

The trail passes through a hill surrounding the lake, and although it is still a little far from the lakeside on the left-hand side, players who notice the two approaching are waving in this direction. Everyone was smiling, and some even laughed.

"Ahem...... Asuna, why don't you come down first. ”

Zhang Yu blushed a little from being laughed at, and whispered to Asuna, who was sitting on her shoulder. He remembered the first time he had walked down the street in a robe, and he couldn't bear the shame.

"Ahaha, don't. Hey, Jade also waved his hand! ”

“………… Then I'm going to speed up. ”

Zhang Yu couldn't convince Asuna, and his feet exerted a slight force. The whole person turned into a gust of wind and ran forward, causing Asuna to scream.

Soon, the road descends to the right of the hill and extends into the deep forest. They walked slowly through a huge coniferous forest that resembled fir trees. The sound of the rubbing of leaves, the trickling of the river, and the chirping of birds add a wonderful accompaniment to the forest scenery in this late autumn.

Asuna looked at the tree closer than usual.

"What a tall tree. Hey, do you think you can climb this tree?"

"Hmm...... SAO, as the game closest to the setting of another world, should be able to do it. Would you like to give it a try? ”

Zhang Yu looked at the big tree, pinched his chin with his right hand and thought for a while.

"Forget it, let's use it as the title of the game next time."

During this period of small talk, the forest grew deeper and deeper with the footsteps. Perhaps psychologically, the birdsong has become sparse and the sunlight that falls from the trees has decreased.

Asuna re-observed her surroundings and asked Zhang Yu.

"W-That...... Where's the rumor?"

"Well...... this"

Zhang Yu waved his finger and used the map to confirm his current location.

"Ah, it's coming, it's a few minutes of walking."

"Hmm...... So, what exactly is the content of the rumors?"

Although she didn't want to hear it, Asuna, who felt uneasy if she didn't listen, still asked.

"Speaking of which, this is what happened about a week ago when the Carpenter player came here to pick up wood. It seems that because the wood here is of good quality, players who are obsessed with collecting come back to their senses and it is already dark. Just as he hurried on his way home, a white shadow flashed in the shade of a tree a little farther away. ”

“…………”

In fact, this is already Asuna's limit, but Zhang Yu still continued ruthlessly.

"Although I thought it was a monster and was a little panicked, it turned out to be not. It's human, and I've heard that it's a petite girl with long black hair and a white dress. She was slowly walking to the other end of the woods. The player thought that it wasn't a monster but another player, and looked at it......"

“…………”

"The arrows of the data blood gauge data, nothing emerges."

"Babbling ......"

I can't help but make a small sound deep in my throat.

Asuna jumped off Zhang Yu's shoulders and hugged his arms tightly. Zhang Yu also snickered in his heart, and tried his reaction after watching a ghost movie with a girl.

At this moment, deep in the dark forest during the day. A white shadow appeared next to the trunk of a coniferous tree some distance between the two of them.

Asuna felt a strong sense of foreboding for no apparent reason, and stared at the unknown object with trepidation. Although not as powerful as Zhang Yu, Asuna's enemy-searching skills have also been practiced to a certain extent. The reinforcing effect of the skill is automatically activated, and the resolution of the concentration of the eye is instantly increased.

The white object seemed to float slowly in the wind. Not plants, not rocks. It's cloth. To be precise, a dress with a simple style. What I saw under the skirt were two slender feet.

A young girl stood there. Wearing a white dress exactly as Zhang Yu said, the young girl stood there silently looking at the two.

Asuna, who felt that she was about to lose consciousness, reluctantly spoke, squeezing out a hoarse voice full of breath.

"Jade ...... Jade, ...... over there"

Zhang Yu looked at Asuna's line of sight, and his heart was relieved.

"That's—that's not true......

The girl didn't move, just stood dozens of meters away from the two of them and stared here. Just when Asuna was mentally prepared that if the other party approached here a little, she would definitely pass out

Suddenly—the girl's body shook. There was a faint thud in her ears, and the girl fell to the ground like a robot with no kinetic energy, in a strange movement that did not resemble a creature.

"Asuna, don't be so scared, she's not a ghost."

Zhang Yu comforted Asuna and ran over.

"Jade, jade, wait a minute!"

Asuna, who was left in place, hurriedly wanted to stop Zhang Yu, but he ran over to the girl who fell to the ground without looking back.

"Really!"

Asuna had no choice but to get up and chase after her. Although I was still a little scared, I had never heard of a ghost passing out, and no matter how I thought about it, I thought it must be a player.

When he came to the bottom of the conifer a few seconds late, Zhang Yu had already picked up the girl. She hadn't regained consciousness yet. His eyes were closed with long eyelashes, and his arms hung limply beside him.

"Yes, should it be fine, right?"

"Hmm...... Just fainted. ”

Zhang Yu looked at the girl's face and replied.

Asuna walked over and tapped her soft little face with her fingers. As if to confirm whether she was really a ghost, Zhang Yu on the side almost couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Faint, Jade. The world neither breathes nor does the heart beat......"

The SAO omits almost all reproduction of human physiology. Although it can inhale air spontaneously and feel the flow of air through the trachea, this virtual body does not have unconscious breathing behavior, and so does the beating of the heart, and although it will feel puffing and popping when it is nervous or excited, it cannot feel the heartbeat of others.

"But since it's not gone...... That means she's still alive. But it's really ...... Quite weird......"

Asuna tilted her head and looked at the immature and lovely face suspiciously.

"Yes. Odd? What's so weird? ”

Zhang Yu knew it very well in his heart, but he still forced a smile to cooperate with Asuna. looked at her solemnly.

"Because you can touch it, it's not a ghost. However, the arrows ...... Didn't show up ......"

Asuna refocused her gaze on the girl. However, as long as it is a dynamic object that exists in Ayngrant, whether it is a player, a monster, or even an NPC, the colored arrows that will always appear when locked onto the target do not appear. This phenomenon has not yet been encountered.

"This must be some kind of bug, Jade."

Zhang Yu didn't want to ruin Asuna's fun in the future, yes. After that, the girl will become their adopted daughter, bringing new vitality to Asuna.

"Perhaps. To be reasonable, she's not a monster, not a player, and not an NPC. However, she is too young for the player. It can only be inferred that there is a bug, and she can just ask when she wakes up. ”

Asuna seems to do. Zhang Yu's body in his arms was too small, and he should not be even ten years old in terms of age. In principle, there is an age limit for NERvGear equipment, so please remember that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use it.

Asuna gently reached out and touched the girl's forehead. The cold but smooth touch came.

"Why...... She will ...... in SAO"

She bit her lip and prepared to get up, and said to Zhang Yu.

"Well, when she wakes up, she should know something. In short, can't put her here. Take her back to our house. ”

"Well, that's what I thought, too."

Zhang Yuheng hugged the girl and got up. Asuna was still looking around, and saw only a large, severed and decaying tree trunk nearby, and couldn't find anything that looked like a reason for the maiden to be here.

The two of them left the forest almost the same way as they came, and when they returned home, the girl's consciousness still did not recover. Let the girl lie on Asuna's bed and cover it with a blanket, and the two of them sit side by side on the edge of the bed.