Tranquility, Warmth, Promise...

'Aincrad,' Floor 22...

The moonlight of the night draped the forest in a silvery veil. The distant lake faintly reflected glimmers of light amid its ripples. The mountains and flowing water followed the missions they had possessed since their birth: one stood guard in silence, without the slightest movement; the other slowly flowed along its established course, without the slightest trace of dejection...

The tranquil night seemed even deeper amid that stillness and motion. Even though the two utterly ordinary sights stood there affirming each other's existence, their very ways of existing different, they both brought an unimaginable sense of peace. Anyone, no matter how restless they were inside, would involuntarily lose themselves in such a scene and savor that sudden silence...

On the balcony of the wooden villa, the glass doors slowly opened and slid to either side. Wu Yan walked out from the pitch-black hall, came to the wooden railing, braced both hands against it, and gazed at the sight before him. At that moment, even he could not help feeling something that only Asuna had felt before...

Was this world really a virtual one?

The vast forest spread out before him like a painting. Mountains and streams complemented one another, while the lake was calm at times and stirred with ripples at others. A gentle breeze swept through the forest, over the mountains, past the streams, across the lake's surface, and over Wu Yan's face as he stood on the balcony... Feeling that incomparably real sensation and sight, he realized that if everything before him were separated, each forest, lake, mountain, and stream would be no different from those in the real world. Only when they came together to form scenery like a fairyland could they make one feel so dreamily lost, perhaps?

After all, such beautiful