He stared at Asuna as she finished the steak about the size of an adult’s palm in mere seconds. He can’t see her hidden expression through her hood. It didn’t help that he knew about her true appearance from watching the original work, he just couldn’t imagine an elegant girl like that chowing down food like she’s a starved refugee.
Wait, did she have a bottomless pit element to her character?
Wu Yan suppressed his urge to laugh. He took out another piece of steak and he gave it to Asuna.
Asuna received it with open arms, ignoring the hot temperature of the wood, she chomped down on his meat. Granted, she slowed down this time, unlike the first time she did it…
The atmosphere between the two cooled down into an awkward silence. Meanwhile, the sound of Asuna chewing on meat reverberated between them.
While one of them went to town with the food, the other stared at the night sky as he enjoyed this serenity. The two finished their steaks quietly without saying much.
“Thanks…”
A tiny voice came out of Asuna’s hood. The noise around them made it hard to hear her but Wu Yan caught her words anyway.
He chuckled while shaking his head. Then, he grabbed Heaven Gazer by his side as he turned around to leave…
She saw him leaving and she accidentally leaked her own thought.
“Why don’t you want to party up with other players?…”
Wu Yan stopped and he thought about her question for a bit. He gave her a sarcastic smile.
“Maybe, I just can’t find the right person to party with…”
Since his arrival in Silvaria and acquisition of the System, Wu Yan walked a path different from other humans.
He wasn’t lonely on this path to the top. He had Hinagiku, Mikoto, Kotori, and the other girls to accompany him as he made his way there. In fact, Wu Yan reckoned that he’s quite lucky in this regard.
In this world, there is no profound way, no supernatural powers, it’s just him and a super-advanced virtual world. Sure, the players around him can use skills that resembled special abilities, but, in the end, they are just humans…
When he said he can’t find the right person to party with, he meant being alone in this boring world…
With powers unfathomable to the humans of this world, he walked, for the first time in a world, alone and isolated. Loneliness was inevitable.
If Wu Yan somehow returned to his homeworld, the real world he came from, he would go bonkers in no time, he was sure.
When his words entered Asuna’s ears, the words took on a different meaning.
Asuna’s interpretation was that Wu Yan lived a life stained with the blood of many. He spoke like he’s someone who can’t fit in as a human anymore.
In other words, Wu Yan felt like there’s no friend he can talk to with an open heart.
Well, she more or less got half of his words’ true meaning right.
“You can party up with us if you want to…”
Asuna was surprised by her own self. She started asking herself,
Wait, what am I talking about?
Wu Yan told her party member that he wasn’t interested in partying up.
Wu Yan was also startled by her words.
“No thanks, I can do it on my own…”
Asuna started frowning in displeasure.
She never invited anyone to join her party. Even back in the real world, countless people would jump at the chance to be invited by her, where does this guy get off turning her down like that?
“Do you think you stand a chance against the boss by yourself?”
Asuna said with a stern look.
“You look strong but that’s a Floor boss, do you really have the ability to handle it?”
“Chance?”
Wu Yan sighed.
“Everyone’s fighting for the chance to survive in SAO, isn’t that right?”
Asuna’s body shook.
Wu Yan didn’t get to see her reaction because his back was turned towards Asuna. He continued.
“Even if the hope looks small, we have to fight for it. I am sure you thought the same as you fought your way through last month, right?”
Asuna was rendered wordless.
He grabbed the handle of Heaven Gazer and he stared up at the sky with a dazed look.
“If I find somebody I think is worth putting my existence on the line then maybe I will party with that person!”
“Alas, I don’t think there’s anyone like that in this world…’
Wu Yan thought about his ladies back in Silvaria and he smiled widely. He gave Asuna one last look and he walked away.
“Wait…”
Asuna raised an arm to stop him. One sentence from Wu Yan stopped her actions.
“I am bad to the bones, you better not get too close to me…”
Wu Yan disappeared into the night.
Asuna put down her arm and the words he said during the day came into her mind, his words continued to play in her mind.
Meanwhile, the fluctuation inside her numb heart grew in intensity, the ripples also lasted longer than last time.
Nobody saw Wu Yan’s departure aside from Asuna. The players continued to kill time and drink away the night. It was an eventful night for everyone who attended this feast.
Like that, the second day came…
Diavel confirmed everyone’s attendance and he glanced at three individuals standing at the back, specifically, Wu Yan, Asuna, and Kirito. He wavered for a brief moment but he continued in a cheerful tone.
“Alright, everyone’s here, let’s go!”
The players nodded with serious looks. They started marching into the heaven-piercing labyrinth tower at their own pace.
Inside Aincrad, there’s a pillar that looked like it supported the heavens on every floor.
These towers, or rather, these stairs led up to the next floor.
To get to the stairs, it isn’t as easy as it sounded. For one, they had to brave the monster roaming inside the labyrinth that protected the stairs from intruders.
Inside the labyrinth, the monsters are way more violent that the monsters roaming outside the labyrinth. Anyone with a bit of skill can go about farming monsters without care outside the labyrinth. But, it’s different inside the labyrinth. There are less than 10 players who are foolhardy enough to traverse the labyrinth on their own. Even beta testers teamed up when they explored the mazes.
Kirito, Asuna, and Wu Yan are the aforementioned fools who did things on their own. Two of them didn’t poke too far into the maze but what they did is already way beyond what the other players can and would dare to do. The two of them thought they were all the same.
If only they know that the remaining one is someone who farmed his way to the top of this labyrinth tower and back. They didn’t know Wu Yan had to leave the maze because he was frustrated by his failure to locate the boss. Their expressions would be more than amusing if they found out about this impossible feat.
They aren’t aware that they are in the midst of a demi-godlike, if not godlike existence. They assumed he had military training. His combat skills are superior to the average human but that’s it, he should still be someone who is within human limits. They would never peg him for being inhuman even after his show of killing intent yesterday.
Diavel wasn’t pleased with Wu Yan’s decision. Even Kirito and Asuna teamed up after the other organized themselves into 6-person parties.
How is he going to deal with the boss by himself?
Diavel mused to himself.
Wu Yan saw the displeasure in Diavel’s eyes but he said nothing. He continued walking behind the raid group with a disinterested attitude. He took the time to appreciate the scenery around him.
Asuna was keeping her eyes on Wu Yan this whole time.
This is a death game. Why is he acting so nonchalantly?…
