Chapter 677: Meeting, spending time together, knowing more about each other
Asuna felt like she’s soaking in a hot spring. The warmth seeped into every inch of her being and it felt very relaxing. A sense of safety wrapped her, this is the most pleasant sleep she has had in ages. She even had a dream about the real world where she was living the life she wanted.
The dream came as quickly as it ended. Her sleepiness dissipated and consciousness slowly returned to her. Her eyelids trembled and she slowly opened her eyes.
She saw the familiar scene of dancing snow and cold winds. Further ahead, she can see the deep hole that swallowed up her friends. She stretched her back only to discover that someone already put a coat on her. An arm was also wrapped around her.
Surprised, she turned to look at the person cuddling her and she froze up.
Wu Yan who she was giving a lap pillow somehow switched position with her and now she’s the one being looked after. Her head was also resting on his shoulder. They were sharing a coat together in a very close fashion.
She temporarily lost her ability to think and her face started going red as blood rushed to her face. Asuna couldn’t react to this situation. She turned her blushing face towards Wu Yan, the distance between them is less than 5 centimeters. They can even feel each other’s breath at this distance. If anyone stumbled upon them, they would look like two lovers who are about to smooch. The whole place took on a pinkish atmosphere.
Asuna finally regained her senses. Her eyes went out of focus as she panicked. She distanced her face away from Wu Yan almost immediately. Her breathing went out of control as she heaved and panted. Suppressing the weird emotional flux within her, she looked at Wu Yan and she extended an arm to nudge him.
“Hey, wake up…”
With Wu Yan’s superhuman awareness, he would have woken up at the same time Asuna stirred into consciousness. But, Wu Yan slipped up and he indulged in the sweet dream he had. Only when Asuna nudged him did Wu Yan wake up.
“Huh? You surprised me…”
Wu Yan confirmed Asuna’s identity before he lowered his guard once more. He grumbled while yawning.
“The sun isn’t out yet, why did you wake up so early?”
For the sloth known as Wu Yan, waking up early is a torture worse than death.
“I don’t want to hear that from you!”
Asuna pursed her lips. She glared at him.
“How long are you going to hold onto me?”
Wu Yan flinched and he released the arm wrapped around Asuna’s. He awkwardly tried to play it cool.
“Hey, I just wanted you to sleep better…”
Asuna narrowed her eyes at him. She continued staring at Wu Yan until he felt like he’s being pushed into a corner. She finally averted her gaze, he was right, it did feel pretty good sleeping while being cuddled by another person.
As if to defy Wu Yan’s prophesy, the sky started brightening up the sun rose. The dazzling ray of light shone upon Wu Yan and Asuna’s face.
The shy source of light hidden behind the other side of the horizon slowly revealed itself to the world. With is advent, the dark clouds took on a golden sheen as the darkness got replaced with a beautiful hue of light.
Warmth permeated the place, the earth regained its vitality and the stagnant air from before started transforming into fresh air.
Asuna and Wu Yan were captivated by this beautiful scenery. Their smiling faces hinted at their current feelings.
“It’s so beautiful…”
Asuna mumbled.
“It’s like I’m still dreaming…”
“Nope, I can assure you this isn’t a dream…”
Wu Yan beamed at her. He cupped a hand of snow from the ground.
“The light is warm, and this cold snow feels just as real, this all is real to me.”
“Real…”
Asuna grabbed some of the snow on the ground.
“Is there anything real in this world?”
“Yeah…”
Wu Yan turned towards her. He continued with a serious face.
“Even if it feels fake to you, even if your body is only a virtual construct, even if everything is only a realistic simulation, the memories you make from it is real to you. Our meeting in this world, our time together, our experiences with each other, nobody in this world can say it’s fake.”
“Meeting, time together, and experiences…”
Asuna looked into Wu Yan’s eyes. She asked the question that has been bugging her.
“But it’s only limited to this world, isn’t that so?”
“The world is surprisingly small!”
Wu Yan stood up, he dusted the snow away from his body. He chuckled.
“We already met once in this world, I am sure we can find another reason to meet up in the real world!’
“At least, that’s what I firmly believe in…”
Inside the transcript worlds, he met the significant ladies in his life. Right now, he created the karma to once again meet with them in the real world.
This time, they will stay together forever!
Asuna felt a warm gale streaking past her heart. The drift stayed in her heart for a long while. She fell into a daze and she immediately brightened up with a smile.
Standing up from the ground, Asuna grabbed the coat and she patted the snow off of it.
“Your words are as persuasive as ever…”
“That’s because they are from the heart…”
Wu Yan laughed heartily.
Asuna clenched down on the coat and she looked at the faraway sun.
“Rather than just meeting, hanging out, knowing more, I would like to…”
“What was that?”
Wu Yan turned back with a puzzled look.
“No, it’s nothing…”
Asuna smiled happily without a hint of sadness or bitterness within them.
Roar
A black figure zipped across the sky and it dived into the deep hole.
“That’s!”
Asuna gasped.
“It’s that dragon!”
Asuna turned grim.
“Not good! Lis and Kirito are still stuck in that deep hole!”
A loud roar came from within the deep hole. Soon, the crystal dragon shot up from the hole as it flew into the sky. Two other players hitched a ride on its back…
“No way…”
Asuna pointed at the figures on the crystal dragon’s back.
“Those two couldn’t possibly be Lis and Kirito, right?”
“I see, they are finally out…”
Wu Yan chortled as he already knew about this outcome.
“At least, they didn’t make us wait long…”
The crystal dragon stopped in the air as it threw the two players off its back.
“Lis!”
Asuna cheered as she wanted to catch Lis. Wu Yan hurriedly stopped her.
“Wait, Asuna!”
Asuna couldn’t go any further as Wu Yan had an iron grip on her. The two falling players looked like they are doing organized free-falling in the air. An instant later, the two hugged in midair.
Asuna’s mouth widened as she looked rather surprised by the turn of the event.
“Don’t tell me Lis really…”
“Let them enjoy their time together just a while longer…”
Wu Yan said with a grin on his face.
Asuna rolled her eyes at Wu Yan. She didn’t encroach on the two lovebirds. Looking at her best friend hugging who is hugging Kirito in midair, she revealed a radiant smile.
“Yeah, you go, Lis…”