"Asuna."
"I'm here." Asuna looked at Yusei with gentle anticipation.
A trace of mischievousness flashed in Yusei's eyes. He spoke softly, "Asuna, we..."
As the words left his mouth, Asuna's beautiful eyes widened. It seemed she anticipated what Yusei was about to say next. Her cheeks were already flushed with shyness.
Yusei didn't keep her in suspense for long. After only a slight pause, he spoke.
"Asuna. We... what are we having for... dinner tonight?"
'Asuna... what are we having for dinner tonight?'
'What are we having for...'
'Dinner?'
Yusei's words were somewhat too unexpected for Asuna. She froze for a moment, unable to react.
After an unknown amount of time, she finally snapped out of it under Yusei's teasing gaze. She stared intently at Yusei, the blush on her face gone.
"You... you're saying the thing every girl looks forward to is being asked what's for dinner?!" Asuna's voice trembled, as if suppressing something.
Yusei could hear the anger in Asuna's voice, but he didn't mind. He smiled, "Isn't it? Don't girls like it when the person they like enjoys the food they cook?"
He reached out and pulled the furious Asuna into his embrace, feeling her soft body. He said gently, "From now on, you're my personal chef. Of course I have to ask you what's for dinner."
Asuna's anger instantly vanished. Hearing Yusei's corny words, she felt incredibly shy, but also joyful inside.
However, on the surface, she struggled out of Yusei's embrace, lifted her head, and snorted cutely, "Who's your personal chef?! You make it sound like I'm old! And... you got my hopes up for nothing. I... I'm not cooking for you!"
"That's not for you to decide anymore. You're already my person."
"So thick-skinned!"
"With such a beautiful girlfriend who can also cook, who needs a thin skin?"
After their brief moment of intimacy, they sat hand in hand on a nearby rock. Asuna snuggled in Yusei's arms, and Yusei held her.
"Hey, Yusei-kun... you don't know my real name yet, do you? I already know yours..." Asuna suddenly said softly.
"My name? Kaguya told you, right?" Yusei smiled, "It's not surprising. After all, the National Youth Kendo's Champion is quite famous. Many people in SAO know about it."
"Is that so? So, what is your name, Asuna?"
Hearing Yusei ask for her name, Asuna perked up. She sat up straight and looked at Yusei with a gentle smile.
"My name is Yuuki Asuna... pleased to meet you, Kazami Yusei-kun."
"Pleased to meet you too, Asuna-chan."
Yusei smiled but didn't change how he addressed her.
"Why don't you call me Asuna?" Asuna asked, puzzled. (T/N: In the RAW, Asuna's ID and real name is different, with different characters writing, but still the same Asuna.)
"Because 'Asuna' and your real name sound similar. And for both of us to use our real names as our game IDs... in a way, it's quite fateful, isn't it?"
"Hmph, I'm not like you. I changed mine slightly. But you... you just used your real name directly as your game ID."
Yusei shrugged, somewhat helplessly, "It proves that whether I use a game ID or not is pointless. Everyone already knows my real name is Kazami Yusei."
"Haha, that's true."
In this mist-shrouded Forest of Death, a warm atmosphere had actually emerged. One had to remember, this was the terrifying Forest of Death.
What an incredible scene this was.
In an unknown, dimly lit realm, a brightly lit magnificent jade tower stood. The luxurious decorations on it faintly glowed, as translucent and pure as white jade.
The jade tower wasn't particularly low or high. It was pagoda-shaped, with multiple tiers, somewhat resembling ancient Chinese jade tower styles, looking extremely grand and imposing.
Inside the jade tower, a girl wearing a blue, pajama-like dress was lazily sitting on a soft cushion. Ethereal spirits floated around the girl. She had pink hair and a lovely, delicate face.
At this moment, she was lazily watching a white-haired girl in front of her. The white-haired girl had a serious expression, with two swords strapped to her back and waist. Next to her was a white, cloud-like... thing.
None of this was particularly surprising. The most astonishing thing was that about three or four meters away from them, there was a illusory, distorted spatial rift emitting a faint light.
If Kanna were here, she would definitely go "Pii!" and point at the rift, tilting her head dumbfoundedly, "Isn't this the spatial rift Kanna came through to get to Yusei last time?"
The invitation sent by Guild Master PoH had indeed arrived here as well. And it was specifically addressed to the Undead Princess, Saigyouji Yuyuko.
His plan was to summon the so-called extremely powerful Undead Princess and then immediately flee, leaving Yusei and Asuna to die by her hand.
However, things turned out unexpectedly. First, he was killed by Kanna and Shiro who happened to be passing by.
Second, Saigyouji Yuyuko seemed... not very interested in coming.
"Youmu, go find me something to eat. I'm hungry." Yuyuko, sitting on the soft cushion, looked at Youmu with pitiful eyes.
"But, Yuyuko-sama, this..." Youmu Konpaku pointed somewhat hesitantly at the spatial rift still emitting an eerie light.
"It's fine. Don't mind it. I'm so hungry right now. Eating is the most important thing." Yuyuko waved her hand, completely unconcerned.
Youmu, seeing that Yuyuko wasn't planning to run off somewhere, breathed a sigh of relief and hurried off to find food.
After Youmu left, Yuyuko, waiting for food, grew a bit bored. She couldn't help but turn her gaze to the spatial rift.
Looking at the strange rift, a curious glint flashed in her eyes. But when weighing curiosity against eating, she decisively chose the latter.
Spatial rifts also had a time limit, and they wouldn't exist forever. Gradually, the energy of the spatial rift began to dissipate, slowly shrinking.
'Might as well record the coordinates of the world this rift leads to. I'm not going now, but maybe... I'll suddenly feel like going later?'
Soon after Yuyuko finished recording, the spatial rift vanished, disappearing without a trace.