"Is it Asuna? My name is Claire, Claire from the Void Brigade, can I get to know her? "There was a voice on the right. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info made Asuna stop tearing the bread and glanced sharply at the past.

Standing on the right is a very sweet-looking blue-haired girl with a single ponytail, who seems to be the companion mentioned by Zheng Shuanglong, the troublemaker who carried Asuna who had passed out in the maze in some unknown way, and connected the two parallel lines that should have been disjointed.

Although there is nothing to do with Asuna, who is eager to die, Zheng Shuanglong has seen Asuna through in this short time together.

Realizing that Asuna will go to the central square, but will not take the initiative to find the team she just mentioned, Asuna, who is closed in her heart, like most solo players, instinctively refuses to contact others. This is really a troublesome thing, so Zheng Shuanglong had to let Claire, who has super action and execution in his team, come to find someone. If the mountain doesn't come, I'll go over. That's the way it is, someone always has to get ahead of them.

The moment she realized that it was Claire who was a member of the Void Brigade, Asuna's cheeks suddenly heated. He was supposed to take the initiative to contact the other party, but he hid in this small corner and sat quietly with the luck that the other party would give up if he couldn't find him, and when he was cheeky eating here, he was seen by this Claire of the Void Brigade. A strong sense of shame suddenly spread throughout my body, and I didn't know what to do for a while.

Looking at the black bread in Asuna's hand, Claire tilted her head slightly and thought for a while, smiled and swiped her hand, took out a hot and fragrant donkey meat roast cake from the inventory, handed it to Asuna, and said, "Please, eat this, donkey meat roast cake, the food made by the head of our Void Brigade is much better than black bread." ”

Looking at the donkey meat pancakes handed over by Clea, Asuna forgot about the shame and confusion, and instead looked dumbly at the food in Claire's hand.

This,Isn't it a special snack on the other side of the sea donkey meat roast cake?,It seems,In SAO,There's no such food.,Is it the player's own concoction?,It's impossible?! At this stage, there are players who are in the mood to practice their cooking skills.

The sentence just now was made by the head of the regiment himself. So, is this donkey meat pancake made by that annoying fellow, no matter how you look at it, you won't think he's a person who can enter the kitchen.

"Is it really made by a weirdo, is it delicious?" Taking the donkey meat cake that Claire handed over, Asuna asked in an unconscious whisper.

Hearing this, Claire smiled as if she was surprised, nodded, and said, "Of course." Don't look at Zheng who looks very lazy, but he is actually a very reliable person, he is perfect in every way, and cooking is no exception. Well, it's very fragrant and delicious. ”

With that, Claire sat down beside Asuna, took out a donkey meat pancake, and took a bite of it gently, with a happy face.

"Zheng?" Not understanding the meaning of these words, Asuna's head was tilted away from under her hat. However, it soon became clear to Asuna, who was clever and empathetic, that this was the name given to the swordsman who had carried himself out of the labyrinth.

Claire didn't answer, but put her hand into the other pocket and pulled out a small clay pot. Bang, put it in the middle of the bench, and said, "You can try this thing on the meatloaf." This is a sauce specially prepared by Zheng, which is great. ”

The meaning of the phrase used on meatloaf made Asuna think for a moment, and soon she realized that it was a unique way to use it in an online game.

Looking at Clea's agitated eyes, Asuna trembled and stretched out her right hand and touched the lid with her fingers. A pop-up menu floats up, and after selecting "Use", the tips of your fingers glow a lilac. This is the exhalation state of the "object assignment mode", so Asuna touched the hot and fragrant donkey meat pancake in her hand with her left hand. Suddenly, with a slight effect sound, one side of the meatloaf was covered with brown sauce.

Looking at the brown bread, after looking at the tempting meatloaf, Asuna decisively put away the half-eaten black bread. An attack was launched against the donkey meat pancakes.

It has always been a hard and coarse bread, but it instantly becomes a crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the donkey meat pancake is fragrant and tempting, and the pickle-flavored sauce is added and spreads in the mouth. Yellow and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, while the donkey meat was very fine, and the taste was fragrant and strong, as if driven by this intoxicating satisfaction, Asuna took two or three more bites, puffing out her cheeks and soaking in it.

When I came back to my senses, the food in my hands, just like the text described, was not left at all, and it was all gone. Looking at the side, he finished eating two seconds earlier than Claire. A strong sense of shame came back to the surface, and I really wanted to get out of here, but it would be rude to leave without expressing my gratitude.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Asuna, who blushed, said softly.

"No thanks." Claire, who also finished the meal, said with a smile on her face.

"It's delicious! Is this kind of thing really made by that Zheng Shuanglong? Asuna asked as she licked the non-existent sauce on her fingers, as if she were savoring the previous deliciousness.

"Of course, this is a delicious meal prepared for us by the proud commander of our Void Brigade, which is full of love. It's delicious, it's the basic benefit of our Void Brigade, and every member of the team can enjoy it, not only that, but there are many, many more delicious foods, although they are not as good as the dishes they cook when they are outside, but they are already a great achievement in this SAO......," Claire said proudly.

In the end, Claire looked at Asuna seriously and said, "Do you want to join our Void Brigade, as long as you join us, you can enjoy this or that unusual delicacy every day." ”

"............" To be honest, in the face of Clea's temptation to eat, Asuna was unmoved, and it was all a lie. Not to mention the hot and fragrant donkey meat pancakes that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just the sauce with a very distinctive flavor can make even the black bread that sells for one delicious taste. I wonder if it's because of the satisfaction created by the taste regeneration engine, and I want to ...... again. No, if you can, I want to eat it once a day.

Instead, Asuna looked at the ground and shook her face hidden under her hat. "No, I didn't come to this neighborhood just to eat something good."

"That's right. So, what are you for? Hearing Asuna's refusal, Claire asked with some curiosity.

Maybe it's because she's a woman, or because Claire doesn't have any negative emotions at all, or because of Claire's sweet smile and positive emotions, so Asuna feels that Claire is a person who can talk to her, a person who calms her restless heart, so Asuna told her words hidden in her heart since she came to this world and never mentioned it to others, little by little.

"I'm all for my own existence. Rather than hiding in the Initial Street and slowly decaying, it is better to maintain its own existence until the last moment. Even if I die at the hands of monsters, I don't think I've lost to this game, this world. Not in any way. ”

Asuna - Asuna Yuuki's fifteenth year of life is a continuous battle. Since the kindergarten entrance test, she has undergone many trials large and small, but Asudaya has survived it victoriously. Although she was instilled with the idea that "if you lose once, you are a worthless person", she still withstood the pressure head-on and got to where she is now.

At the end of the fifteenth battle, there is a trial called [Sword Art Online], and in the face of this, Asuna thinks that she probably can't win. With a lot of unknowns and a lot of different rules and cultures, it's a battle that you can't win on your own.

The condition for victory is to reach the apex of the hundreds of floors of floating city and defeat the last enemy. However, the game has been in the game for more than half a month, and nearly one-fifth of the players have already left, and almost all of them are experienced players. There is very little combat power left, but the road to go is still very long......

Similar to these words, Asuna whispered as if she was slowly unscrewing the floodgates of her heart. The monologue, which was intermittent and could not always be spoken in the same tone, entered the ears of Claire, who sat quietly beside her, with a gentle smile without saying a word.

But soon Asuna's voice stopped, as if interrupted by a sunset breeze, and then an extremely short, subtle voice came out of Clea's mouth. "Sorry......"

After a few seconds, Asuna was very surprised as to why the other party would say this. Today is the first time I have seen this gentle smiling big sister, and she shouldn't have a reason to apologize to herself.

Asuna, who peeked into the blue-haired girl sitting on the bench next to her, looked at the existence named Claire and her lips moved slightly, and the sweet but resolute voice came again. "I'm sorry, I apologize to you on behalf of the head of my family, there will be this situation today, in other words, in a sense, it is the head of my family who forced you into this situation, this is really sorry. It's really, really sorry to pull you back from death when you were already ready to die, and not be able to give you hope to live, so that you can continue to despair like this. If, I mean, I knew you had given up hope and wanted to die, I wouldn't have come here. Hope is given to the living, not to the dead, and all that can be left for the dead is endless emptiness and loneliness. ”

"Do you want to come over, I won't interfere with you, even if you want to leave, there's no problem, I'll explain to the head of the regiment, go with peace of mind, I promise, even if this happens next time, even if the head of my family still can't help but want to be nosy, I will drag him down." There's no way for him to intervene. People can make people unable to survive, but it is difficult to make people unable to die, since you are bent on death, why should we do more. Forget it. ”

After saying these decisive words, clapping her hands gently, Claire stood up and calmly invited politely: "Do you want to have a meal at our residence before leaving, after all, the head of the regiment has sent you an invitation, if you can't do even the most basic etiquette, I will be very embarrassed." ”

Frightened by Clea's decisive words, Asuna couldn't imagine that the gentle girl who had been smiling so gently before, and seemed to be able to say such hurtful words so indifferently in the next moment.

Asuna, who was frozen by the ice on the Ice Maiden Clea, and Asuna, who was hurt by that kind of unkind words, had the urge to run away.

However, instinctively, Asuna was very curious about this Void Brigade that had no interest in the slightest, what was it like to have a strange leader like Zheng Shuanglong and a strange girl like Claire, and why they could laugh so happily in such a desperate, sad, and terrifying death game. Laughing so brightly. This smile, this bright smile, deeply attracted Asuna's desperate heart oppressed by the game of death, and Asuna instinctively didn't want to end it all like this.

I want to join. Don't want to join. Which one she wanted, Asuna couldn't figure it out herself.

"I'm ......" Asuna, who is in a conflicted mood, doesn't know how to answer Clea's invitation, and doesn't know how to face the Ice Maiden.

"Let's go, don't be so polite, a meal is still out of our Void Brigade, it's a little late now, if you don't go back, everyone will be in a hurry." And Claire, who had already calculated everything, did not give Asuna the time to choose the United States in a daze, decisively took Asuna's cold white little hand, and dragged Asuna away.

Asuna, who was dragged by Claire, instinctively looked at the small hands held together, feeling the false and real warmth in the palms, and her heart fluttered unconsciously. Can the imaginary world composed of this data also have such warmth? Asuna didn't know.

However, what Asuna understands is that although her originally wavering heart of fear is still so fearful and uneasy, it is no longer so drifting and wanton. In this false world of data, you have found your own truth. The warmth in the palm of the hand, the emotion in the heart, is the truth.

At this moment, Asuna had expectations for the Void Brigade. It seems that it is not a bad thing to join such a team that gives itself the authenticity of Claire. (To be continued.) )