I really don't want to have a girlfriend.

Kyoko Yuuki glared at her coldly, trying to pull her hand away but was held tightly. She couldn't do anything about that cheeky grin, so she could only frown and click her tongue softly.

Looking back, Asuna's mischievous side was something she only saw years ago back in her hometown, and only in front of her grandparents. Now, however, she can show it to me without any reservations, taking the initiative to ease the previously cold and distant mother-daughter relationship.

After clearly recognizing this fact, Kyoko Yuuki felt slightly dazed, and a strange feeling arose in her heart.

"Oh, right, Mom..." Sensing the pleasant atmosphere, Asuna Yuuki waved her white umbrella and finally mustered her courage to tentatively ask, "Um, the game helmet..."

At that moment, Kyoko Yuuki's attention was drawn to the man walking towards her.

Although it was bustling outside, this tree-lined path, which seemed to be a place for students to rest and date, happened to be empty except for the two of them and the man who was walking quietly towards them.

The road wasn't small, but he was walking right in the middle of it, soon getting so close to them that he was barely able to brush past them or even bump into them, without making any attempt to move aside.

For some reason, as if she were seeing a stinky rat in a ditch, Kyoko Yuuki couldn't help but frown, a flash of disgust crossing her eyes.

Perhaps it was the other person's swaggering gait, or their casual, head-down walk as if no one else was around, or even their overly gloomy attire and demeanor, or the awful melody they were humming—

Like a walking puddle of mud, Kyoko Yuuki instinctively didn't want to get close to the man, much less be bumped on the shoulder by him.

So he gently nudged Asuna with his elbow, making her move a step toward the school building, trying to subtly create distance between them.

"What's wrong?" As she stepped aside, Asuna asked in confusion.

Just as Kyoko Yuuki shook her head, the shadow beneath the hood suddenly raised a pair of bloodshot eyes and stared straight at her.

The mouth behind the mask seemed to be grinning widely.

"I prefer to see a woman's face contorted rather than a man's."

"..."

That hoarse and frantic voice sent chills down my spine.

Kyoko Yuuki instinctively stopped in her tracks, pulled her daughter behind her, and asked with a cold, wary look in her eyes:

"Is there something you need?"

They don't look like students... are they suspicious people who sneaked in? They seem a bit mentally unstable.

Regardless, it's best to stay away from him for now and make sure you're safe!

The thought had barely crossed my mind when, in the next moment...

Without any warning, the other party lunged at him.

As the hood was blown open, the messy, greasy hair, and the hand and syringe slowly emerging from the pocket came into view, catching her suddenly narrowed pupils.

"We need to sneak in from there, so let me enjoy this 'appetizer' for now~"

Incomprehensible shouts of excitement and distorted low laughter rang out in front of me.

Kyoko Yuuki's eyes widened, and she couldn't even utter a word.

My heart froze and stopped beating; my muscles were gripped by fear, convulsing so badly I couldn't move.

When the crisis struck, she realized that apart from standing in front of her daughter and reflexively abandoning the idea of ​​running away, she could not do anything to resist. She had no self-defense skills and could only stand there like a wooden stake.

Then, she watched as the other person lifted a syringe filled with green liquid and inserted it directly into her thigh.

"Mom, move aside!"

It shone like a shooting star on the ground.

With a clear shout, a bright white light drew an arc from his side, silently breaking through the air.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the white light arrived first, piercing the wrist holding the syringe with the precision of a slender sword, forcefully pushing it away.

"Aha?"

The attacker let out a surprised cry, his arm was forced to be raised high behind him, and the syringe almost slipped from his hand.

Before Kyoko could react, Asuna pulled her behind her, her umbrella swiftly blocking the syringe that Kyoko was thrusting back at her.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on? Nobody told me this high school girl was this strong?!"

Seeing Yuuki Asuna steadily block his attack, the hooded man's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Wow, that's incredibly strong!!"

Ignoring what he said, Asuna gritted her teeth slightly, suddenly twisted her wrist to deflect the force from the umbrella, and used the reaction force to twist her waist.

Like a dancing sprite, her long flaxen hair twirled halfway around before she suddenly stepped forward and slammed her slender shoulder into the other's chest.

"Suspicious person, stay away from my mother!"

"Well!"

Caught off guard by the sudden impact, the hooded man couldn't help but groan, clutching his chest and taking a few steps back, breathing heavily.

Taking advantage of this moment, Asuna Yuuki steadied herself.

She brushed aside the side hair that had fallen on her shoulder with one hand, held the white umbrella like a rapier in front of her, and slowly exhaled.

Immediately, he glared fiercely at the hooded man who had almost succeeded in his attack, exuding a sharp and cold aura.

"Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

"..."

Protected behind her, Kyoko Yuuki looked at her daughter's somewhat unfamiliar, straight back and was speechless for a moment.

The attacker, who had finally caught his breath, glared at them with a mixture of resentment and unwillingness, then pulled up his hood again and decisively turned and ran away.

Yuuki Asuna was stunned for a moment, then quickly took off after him.

"Don't even think about escaping!"

"Wait, Asuna! It's too dangerous!" Kyoko Yuuki tried to grab her arm, but Asuna easily dodged it, leaving without turning her head to say a word.

"How could I just stand by and watch the person who attacked my mother get away! Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Asuna..."

Chapter 108 "Asuna" and "Asuna"

With no time to think about her mother, Asuna Yuuki grabbed an umbrella and chased after her.

Perhaps due to the adrenaline rush, even in the real world, in a place where the body hadn't been enhanced by the game, they were attacked by unknown assailants. They were just a hair's breadth away from being pricked by that ominous-looking syringe.

But now, Asuna Yuuki feels no fear or timidity whatsoever.

She gripped the umbrella handle tightly, the scenery rushing past her, her gaze fixed on the hooded man trying to run out of the tree-lined path and blend into the crowd.

"Without a virtual world, without becoming 'Asuna,' there is no courage to move forward and face adversity head-on..."

My past self used to stubbornly believe this.

So it was only after her helmet was confiscated that she re-examined her own weakness and cried again for her own incompetence.

You won't get what you want if you don't move forward.

Without wielding the sword, the binding chains cannot be severed.

Knowing this, yet unable to change it.

She stood at the bottom of the cage, gazing up at the free sky where she could soar with others. Unwilling to get hurt, she folded her wings, lamenting her suffocating life, and wallowed in self-pity as she sank into despair.

until……

That false sky made her realize that she possessed the power to break the chains.

Those warm hands told her that the courage to move forward was right beside her, within reach.

The greatest fortune in my life is meeting the right person in the right place.

"Just like Yu-kun... I have absolutely no regrets about the choice I've made so far!"

Gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, Asuna Yuuki bit her lower lip and kicked the grass hard, increasing her already fast speed even further as she gradually approached the fleeing hooded man.

Closer and closer, until you could even see the astonishment and twisted madness in the man's eyes as he half-turned his head.

"You persistent bastard, watch out or I might really kill you!"

"Who would be killed by a minotaur like you!"

Her heart pounded, her blood boiled, and Asuna Yuuki raised her umbrella, pointing the tip slightly downwards and forward, and shouted sharply:

"Haa!"

Even if you can never play that game again, things that have changed will never be the same again.

Asuna Yuuki is a chestnut-haired rapier user, and Asuna is the eldest daughter of the Yuuki family.

Having crossed the line between reality and virtuality, she finally became herself.

The bound heart has now transformed once again, shimmering with the brilliance of a shooting star.

—Basic rapier skill: Linear thrust!

"Stop it!"

The pure white tip of the umbrella caught up, piercing the air that separated the two, and forcefully poked the hooded man's knee.

"—!"

Although there were no special effects lights or data damage, the feeling of attacking humans was incredibly real, and it was truly reflected on her body.

At the same time, it caused the other person to stumble and fall forward uncontrollably.

It worked!

Asuna's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and she quickly and clumsily regained her balance.

In the game, she could easily do a few somersaults with one hand and land perfectly, but unfortunately, she couldn't do that in real life. After stabbing him, she was thrown off balance by the momentum and almost fell over—in short, she was paralyzed.

However, since no one poked her, and with her excellent athletic ability and flexible body, she naturally wouldn't fall to the ground in such a disheveled state as the attacker in front of her.

Just as Asuna was thinking this, a frantic shout suddenly came from behind her:

"Asuna, switch!"

Switching, in that world's gaming terminology, is a way to cancel the sword skill's cooldown time in a team—after the first team member uses a sword skill to create an opening for the monster's attack, the second team member can then step in and attack again.

She didn't understand why the voice appeared at this moment, nor did she understand why it suddenly "switched."

But even though my mind was blank, my body reacted like a soldier receiving an order.