I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Tenkuji Yu was stunned for a moment, looking at her with a strange expression, and couldn't help but wonder if the timeline had been deleted by the Crimson King and jumped to a future where the two had a better relationship.

Has my online boyfriend relationship officially begun? But something still feels off...

The system pretended not to understand again, so he asked, "Where are you going?"

"What else could it be? Of course it's this... the Central Auditorium!"

Glancing at the name on the map, the rapier grabbed his arm without a word, her tone filled with inexplicable excitement and anticipation: "Didn't I say I'd make it up to you before I logged off last time? Perfect timing, let me take you on an adventure to the Great Hall today. If we find any treasure along the way, I'll give it to you as repayment for that favor!"

“No, there are usually no treasure chests in these kinds of public spaces…” Tenkuji Yu narrowed his eyes, staring at her slender and straight back, and bluntly exposed her, “Asuna, you’re not just using this as an excuse to bring me in for courage because you don’t want to go in alone, are you?”

"..."

After an eerie half-second silence.

"Ugh, I'm so annoying! Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

The chestnut-haired girl slowly turned her head, a twitching smile on her lips, but it all looked like she was feeling guilty: "You were the one who said you wanted to see the scenery first. I just agreed with your idea and made a 'little' extension, okay?"

Tenkuji Yu shrugged noncommittally: "Well, who knows? I've only known you for a few hours. Maybe you're that kind of person, but I just haven't realized it yet."

"Hahaha……"

Veins throbbed on Asuna's forehead, her smile became even more strained, and her grip on his arm tightened.

Immediately, despite her kind tone and gentle gaze, she spoke coldly as if a ghost were sneering: "That's true... then it seems I should let you get to know me better."

"What do you think? Someone proactively added me as a friend and said they wanted to team up with me to level up. One-handed swordsman, master."

No night in Aincrad was as deep as her resentment.

This is a straightforward guy who will quickly reveal his true nature once you get to know him—after making this judgment on his own, Tenkuji Yu broke free from the iron-like female hand and walked in front of Asuna.

With my hands on the massive wooden door of the Central Auditorium, I could clearly feel the icy chill emanating from the wood.

He sighed softly, "Pretend I said nothing, let's go, Lady Rapier."

"Hmm, it would have been better if you had said that sooner~"

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Asuna instantly wiped away her half-black expression and nodded in satisfaction.

She brushed her sideburns behind her ear with her fingers, peeked her head out from beside his shoulder, and looked at the wooden door that was about three meters high in front of her, asking with some curiosity:

"Will a monster suddenly jump out from inside?"

"There shouldn't be such a stupid design."

Yuu Tenkuji took a deep breath, and while remaining vigilant, he began to exert force with both hands, slowly pushing open the door to the central auditorium.

The auditorium was completely silent, except for rows of wooden benches in the style of a Western church, which stood there silently as if they were full of people, exuding an astonishing sense of heaviness.

The benches extended to the end of the stage, where there was a master of ceremonies table. The ceiling was decorated with heart-shaped stained glass. Even though the lights in the auditorium were not on, the artificial light at night still illuminated many corners.

A quiet yet tense atmosphere was spreading.

The two of them walked in cautiously, one after the other, in a manner that was anything but admiring the scenery.

Asuna unconsciously grabbed the hem of his clothes, arched her back like a cat and followed behind him, her movements becoming more defensive, but her eyes were full of curiosity as she looked around.

"Congratulations, host, you have received a reward of 50 yen."

"..."

Tenkuji Yu was too lazy to express his opinion, so he just let her hold him and took the opportunity to speak up to ease the overly dull atmosphere.

"In such buildings, there are usually only NPCs who issue quests or provide important clues, while treasure chests, monsters and the like will appear in the mazes or dungeons in the wild."

"So Asuna, we're still in the safe zone, you don't need to be so scared."

Upon hearing this, Asuna immediately puffed out her cheeks in protest and declared righteously, "I wasn't scared! I just didn't want to be startled, so when I entered a strange, dark place, I reflexively focused all my attention..."

"Are you two here to pray for blessings?"

An aged voice suddenly rang out.

"ah!"

Asuna screamed in fright.

She clung tightly to Tenkuji Yu's arm, her body poised for battle, yet she hadn't even drawn her weapon. Like a toothless lion, she could only bluff in the face of nothingness.

"Who...who is it! Is it a person or a ghost?!"

"What kind of ghosts are in virtual games? They're all data that can be attacked... Calm down."

Tenkuji Yu couldn't help but sigh, but after looking around, he couldn't see the person who had spoken.

chap!

Before they could examine it closely, the voice spoke again, accompanied by a sudden brightening of the lights.

"I'm still alive, of course I'm a human being, and my lovely children."

Passing the benches at the entrance, the red carpet leads to the podium, and to the left of the podium is the confessional.

Then, from behind the confessional, an old woman with gray hair, a sallow complexion, and wearing loose nun's clothes slowly walked out.

She looked over with gentle eyes, her eyes, lips, and wrinkles filled with a kind and benevolent smile, and waved her withered hand.

"Since you're already here, let's chat. It won't take up too much of your time."

"This……"

The two looked at each other, trying to communicate with their eyes, but because they lacked understanding, they couldn't come up with anything.

However, thanks to this, Asuna finally realized that in her excitement, she had accidentally gotten a little too close to him, almost pressing her chest against his.

Her face flushed slightly, and she quickly lowered her hands as if nothing had happened, creating a small distance between them.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: I, Asuna Yuuki, will never accept something I don't like!

“I am Sister Martha of the Church of Stia.”

He led them to a corner of the church, to a small room that resembled a reception room.

Sister Mary introduced herself and then brought out two chairs, inviting the two to sit down.

Seeing that she was trembling a little, Asuna quickly stepped forward to help her, and said with a polite smile, "We can do it ourselves... It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam Martha, I'm Asuna."

"I'm Yu, nice to meet you." Unlike her attitude, after a brief greeting, Tenkuji Yu looked at Sister Ma with suspicion, as if she was thinking about something.

Asuna placed a chair in front of him and tilted her head to look at him in confusion: "What's wrong?"

After thinking for a moment, Tenkuji Yu said bluntly, "Ms. Ma looks very unwell."

“Hey, Yu-kun! What are you doing…”

Frowning, Asuna tugged at his sleeve, clearly displeased with his overly direct attitude.

Sister Mary waved her hand dismissively, pulled at her withered cheek, and said with a smile, "It's just an old ailment. Everyone gets like this when they get old, don't worry about it, please sit down."

"I'm very sorry, my companion is a bit blunt, and I've gotten angry at him several times..." Asuna sighed helplessly, bowed to the nun, and sat down in the chair.

"Why are you apologizing?" Tenkuji Yu whispered in her ear.

"It's all because of you..." She subconsciously rubbed her ear, lowering her voice as well, and said irritably, "Isn't it normal to be polite to the elderly? How can you just say someone's health isn't good like that..."

"She's an NPC, you know? A virtual character who only responds to our presence with a specific sentence structure."

Asuna pursed her thin lips and stared at him intently: "Even so, we still need to respect the elderly!"

"Okay, okay."

Shrugging, Tenkuji Yu didn't want to argue with her inexplicable stubbornness, so she simply stopped talking.

Sister Mary watched them whispering, a smile on her face, until she finally spoke:

"Miss Asuna, Mr. Yu, you two are adventurers, right?"

NPCs usually refer to players as "adventurers," regardless of their ID names.

However, perhaps because this NPC is relatively intelligent, Sister Martha addressed the two of them like an ordinary old lady calling out to a nearby child, without the stiffness and distance typical of ordinary NPCs.

“Yes, we are adventurers who have just arrived in this town!” As if she had already immersed herself in this 'story,' Asuna smiled and said to the nun, “We just happened to pass by this church today and were attracted by its magnificence and splendor, so we couldn’t help but want to come in and explore it… We are very sorry for disturbing you so abruptly.”

"You flatter me. Not only Goddess Stia, but I personally also warmly welcome both of you..."

The conversation, which was not worth paying attention to, passed by, and Tenkuji Yu raised her eyes.

Sister Mary has a gray question mark above her head, which means that you can receive a mission from her, but the conditions for the mission have not yet been met.

Perhaps after the conversation, we can officially begin Sister Martha's mission?

As I was thinking this, my arm was suddenly bumped.

"Yu-kun, Yu-kun!" Asuna's somewhat anxious voice rang out.

Yuu Tenkuji snapped out of his thoughts, his hand instinctively resting on the hilt of his sword: "What's wrong?"

"look!"

Chestnut-haired Rapier's eyes lit up as he held a few light brown cookies in his hands. Chewing with chubby cheeks, he mumbled excitedly, "These cookies are homemade by Madam Martha, they're super delicious! They'd definitely sell for over a thousand cors in Aunt Susan's bakery, but she said she'd give them all to us!"

Moving her hand from the sword hilt to her face, Yuu Tenkuji sighed, resting her forehead on her hand: "...I see, that's great."

Sister Mary smiled and said, "The elderly can't eat that much. As long as you like it, that's fine... If you like it, I can give you my cooking skills and recipes."

"Really?" Asuna shoved all the cookies in her hand into Yu's hand, bowed deeply, and exclaimed, "Thank you so much, Madam Ma!"

Amidst her thanks, Yuu Tenkuji picked up a cookie and took a bite.

It was indeed very delicious; in reality, it would probably be considered top-tier, expert-level.

Thanks to Asuna, even though he hadn't accepted any missions yet, he obtained the recipes for "Cooking" and "Nun's Cookies" from Sister Martha.

Unfortunately, this thing can't be replicated in reality, and the system wasn't so generous as to give him the "snack making" skill.

After tasting the delicious cookies, Yuu Tenkuji suddenly said, "Asuna, you should work on your cooking skills."

"Huh?" Asuna was taken aback, her finger stopping on the menu.

"Sure, sure... Don't you like cooking?"

"I like it, but if I do it every day in real life, I won't want to continue being a chef in the game." Yuu Tenkuji waved his hand lazily. "Besides, there's always a limit to the skills a person can master."

"There are so many life skills in the game. You can practice tailoring and cooking, and I can practice blacksmithing and fishing to complement each other. That way, we can be more efficient."