Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

He knew he still had a lot of trouble back in Japan, but it hadn't come to his head yet. Now, in this rare moment of leisure, he naturally didn't intend to mention it to Yuna; he just wanted to enjoy life in peace with his beloved wife and precious daughter.

As if sensing Mo Yulan's worry, You Na gently stroked his short silver-gray hair and then leaned against him.

"Don't think about it too much. We've come a long way, and we'll go even further in the future, won't we?" she said, pointing her right hand straight at the distant fireworks tube. "Make a wish. Usually, these kinds of things have a wishing part, right?"

"I've never heard of making a wish after setting off fireworks. Never mind, if I had to make a wish, I'd like to..."

Yuna frowned, then gently pressed her index finger to Mo Yulan's lips and whispered in his ear, "Don't say it out loud, okay? If you say it out loud, your wish won't come true."

"Alright, alright." Mo Yulan shook her head helplessly, casually patted Aiweixin's head, and thought to herself, "I hope Youna and Aiweixin will be safe in the future... I hope that every time I start with a Tower of Pulse and Furnace, the opponent won't use Exile to remove my Tornado."

He watched the fireworks scatter in the air into dazzling and magnificent shapes, then curiously turned to look at Yuna.

"I'm still really curious about what you wished for," he said, bringing his face close to Yuna's cheek and stealing a kiss when she wasn't looking.

"Oh!" Yuna's face suddenly turned bright red, her eyes filled with surprise. "Arashi actually took the initiative. That's really rare."

She wrapped her arms around Mo Yulan's waist, rested her chin on his shoulder, and pressed herself against him. Mo Yulan blushed and shook himself a couple of times, but didn't immediately break free. Instead, he sat there obediently.

“Daddy looks so cute like this.” Ivy Xin said with a bright smile. “Thinking about it, Vivi sometimes looks like this too, but Daddy is definitely cuter.”

"Stop fooling around, Aiweixin, just enjoy the fireworks." Mo Yulan coughed awkwardly twice, then abruptly changed the subject. The fireworks show didn't last long; the night sky quickly fell silent, and the three of them sat quietly, none of them speaking, simply keeping each other company.

Just then, an AR page chat bar suddenly appeared in front of him, displaying a message from Sinon.

"I have some information about Yuki here that I think I should show you. I'll send it to you later."

------

Actually, Mo Yulan didn't completely cut off contact with the members of the Sleeping Knights after that. He later met Zhu Nie in the game, but their conversation wasn't very pleasant... or rather, it didn't achieve his goal.

Zhu Nie's words at the time could be summarized as: "We can't contact Yuuki either. We're glad to fight alongside you, but please forget about us." After that, she handed him the two swords Yuuki had used and some other dropped items, then left as if fleeing. At the time, Mo Yulan only felt that something was wrong, but like he had said to Shino that night, he didn't intend to get involved anymore.

However, it now seems that this might not be as simple as him deciding to ignore the matter. Because the message Shino sent him immediately afterward made his breath catch in his throat for a moment.

"You should still come and take a look. I'm sorry to have disturbed your honeymoon with Yuna-neechan, but... this may be the last time you see her."

"What's going on?" Mo Yulan frowned, then quickly typed out, "Tell me in detail, what happened?"

"Putting all that aside, have you ever heard of something called 'Medicuboid'?" Sinon typed very quickly on the other end.

"Wait a minute, Yuna, I have some news to report." Mo Yulan said hurriedly, her hands moving non-stop. "It's a civilian medical device modified from a Rainbow Six training machine, right? Don't tell me about Yuki all of a sudden..."

"That's right. In short, her days are probably numbered. If you want to come, I suggest you hurry up."

“Yes, I will come.” Mo Yulan closed the temporary communication window, then turned to look at You Na and continued, “Shino just said she found Yuki, but Yuki may be suffering from some kind of terminal illness and is being treated with Medicuboid. This may be the real reason she is avoiding us. I think we need to go and see her.”

“That’s right, I think so too.” Yuna nodded seriously, then stood up from the snow. “Honeymoon trips are something you can do anytime, but this time is different. Let’s go back, Arashi.”

336. Where did Yuki go?

One day later, Yokohama

Passing through the spotlessly clean double-glazed automatic doors and stepping into the brightly lit entrance, one is immediately greeted by the smell of disinfectant that Mo Yulan finds somewhat nostalgic—something he often smelled in the laboratory during his undergraduate years.

"It's probably something like a high-valence chlorine compound, but it could be something else, I'm not sure." Mo Yulan said in a low voice as he watched the mother holding the child and the elderly man in the electric wheelchair move back and forth through the space toward the counter where visitors could apply for visits.

"Name: Wilson P. Mo, Address: XX, Person being visited...wtf?"

He suddenly stopped when he reached this section of the application form. He only knew Yuuki's game ID, Yuuki, but she had never mentioned her real-life name. While he wouldn't be stopped for something so trivial, it was still quite awkward.

"What do we do now?" Yuna asked from the side.

"I can only ask. I hope you all have the habit of using names with similar pronunciations in real life as your IDs." After saying that, Mo Yulan took the application form and walked back to the window.

A nurse in a white uniform was operating a computer behind the counter. She looked up as soon as she noticed Mo Yulan approaching.

"Would you like to visit me?" she asked.

Mo Yulan nodded and handed the incomplete application form through the small hole in the window.

“I want to visit the sick person, but I don’t know their name,” he said.

"What?!"

The nurse suddenly frowned in surprise, and Mo Yulan could only try to explain what had happened.

"The other person is probably a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, her name is probably Yuuki, and she is probably undergoing treatment with Medicuboid. Is this information enough?"

"We're sorry, we cannot disclose the patient's personal information."

The nurse shook her head, but just as she uttered her refusal, another, slightly older nurse from behind the counter suddenly came over and whispered something in her ear.

At first, she blinked, then turned to Mo Yulan again, suddenly changing her tone.

"Excuse me, what is your name... I mean, what is the name of that world?"

"Sorinmarkov, what's wrong?" Mo Yulan asked, puzzled, as he handed the application form back. The nurse picked up the form, glanced at it, and then passed it to her colleague inside.

"May I see your identification?"

“Okay.” Mo Yulan took out her passport from her pocket again and flipped to the middle page. The nurse carefully examined her, noticing the stark contrast between her unbelievably cute face and the passport photo, and then said, “Please wait a moment,” before picking up the phone next to her.

"Dr. Kurahashi from the Second Internal Medicine Department would like to see you. Please take the elevator to the fourth floor from the front, turn right after exiting the elevator, and then hand this to the counter."

Mo Yulan took the passport and another silver pass from the tray that was handed to her, nodded to the nurse, and then took You Na's hand and walked towards the elevator. After waiting at the counter on the fourth floor for almost ten minutes, she saw a man in a white coat walking quickly towards her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said. Mo Yulan sized up the man. He was probably in his early thirties, a bit short and stout, with a side-parted hairstyle and black-rimmed glasses.

"You're too kind. I'm sorry to bother you so suddenly. If it's inconvenient for you right now, I can wait any longer."

"No, no, I just happened to be off duty this afternoon. Emmm... You must be Mr. Mo Yulan. My name is Kurahashi, and I'm Ms. Konno's attending physician. It's amazing that you managed to find this place."

His tone was quite kind, unlike the doctors Mo Yulan had previously imagined; at least he wouldn't point at people or yell at them.

(This refers to the doctor at the Bingcheng card shop, who often yells at the table with lines like "You're so damn skilled! I'm not playing anymore!"—the one who transplanted the system for Mo Yulan—author's note)

“I am indeed Mo Yulan. Miss Konno? That is…”

"Yes, her full name is Konno Yuuki. She talks about Mr. Sorin and his amazing friends every day... Sorry, that's what Yuuki calls you."

"Please call me by my real name. I'm not used to having people outside the circle call me by my ID." Mo Yulan smiled and shook her head, while Dr. Cangqiao smiled apologetically and pointed in the direction of the elevator with her right hand.

"Let's not stand here any longer, let's go upstairs to the lounge."

He said this, then led Mo Yulan and You Na to a spacious lounge, where they sat facing each other at the back. Through the huge glass windows, they could see the vast hospital grounds and the surrounding green spaces. The room was almost empty, with only the faint sound of the air conditioner wafting in the air.

Mo Yulan was filled with questions, but didn't know where to begin. Dr. Cangqiao broke the silence first.

"Mr. Mo must have met Mu Mianji in the VR world, right? Did she mention anything about this hospital to you?"

"No, in fact... she didn't reveal any information about reality. She once said she would talk to me after a certain strategy event, but after that event ended, she and her teammates... disappeared."

"So it's really not easy for you to find this place. Although Kapok had already mentioned that someone named 'Solinmarkov' might come to visit, and asked me to notify the front desk first, I was startled and asked her if she had already mentioned this hospital, but she replied that she hadn't. I then said that the gentleman you mentioned must not know about this place. And when the front desk called just now, it really surprised me."

Dr. Kurahashi adjusted his glasses, then looked at Mo Yulan and You Na with a slightly scrutinizing gaze, before suddenly sighing.

“Whenever Kapok mentions you, she always cries. She’s usually such a strong girl…” His voice trembled as he said this. He slowly took off his glasses and placed them on the table, and continued, “She said she wanted to be friends with you but couldn’t, and she wanted to see you again but couldn’t. Actually… I can understand how she feels.”

"I just asked her directly. The friend who told me about this before also told me that this might be the last time I see her. I already had a premonition, but I still want to ask you to tell me, what... what happened to her?"

Suppressing the sudden unease in her heart, Mo Yulan asked in a deep voice.

337. The Girl in the Sterile Room

"It's a very touching story, but remember this, Sinon. Don't let them try to use [that], absolutely not."

“…I understand, Ms. Rebecca. But why?”

"This is the limit of what I can tell you. I can't say more, but I did see blood and... death. It was imminent... never mind. Just remember not to let them try to touch Eden's Cross."

"Well, this is really a bizarre assignment. I don't even know what that Eden's Cross is for, or what it is..."

------

Upon hearing Mo Yulan's question, Dr. Cangqiao's face suddenly showed a hint of sympathy.

"Perhaps you'll feel later that you shouldn't listen to me anymore. Even if you choose that path, no one will blame you. Neither Kapoki nor her friends are doing this for your own good. ...Never mind, if you want to know, just tell me everything. That's what Kapoki told me. Let's talk as we walk; her ward is a bit far from here."

Mo Yulan's worried expression became even more pronounced. Noticing this, You Na gently took his hand and led him to follow Dr. Kurahashi's footsteps forward.

"I know what you're thinking right now, Lan. Although I'm also reluctant to admit it, sometimes... that's just the limit of human power." She gently comforted Mo Yulan, even though she herself was feeling quite down.

“I’m fine, Yuna… It’s just that seeing my former teammates who fought alongside me become like this makes me a little sad… I should be able to bear the truth I’m about to learn, or rather, Yuki believed that I could do it, which is why she allowed me to come.”

He followed the doctor up to the top floor via the elevator marked "for staff only," and it was then that Dr. Kurahashi, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke.

Have you ever heard of the term "gap period"?

"It's probably related to a viral infection. I heard it from a senior student in pharmacy."

“That’s right. During this window of opportunity, that is, within ten days of infection, even the most sophisticated nucleic acid tests cannot detect the presence of the virus.” Dr. Kurahashi paused slightly at this point, then stepped out of the elevator, swiped his ID card to open the heavily guarded door, and continued, “And this ‘window of opportunity’ will inevitably lead to certain events, namely, contamination of transfusion products caused by blood donation. Although the probability is only one in several hundred thousand, modern science still cannot reduce this probability to zero.”

“Mu Mianji was born in May 2011. Due to her mother’s difficult labor, a cesarean section was decided upon… but at that time, due to some accident, Mu Mianji bled heavily, and the doctor performed an emergency blood transfusion. Unfortunately, the blood used at that time was infected with a virus. And later… her whole family was infected.”

Dr. Kurahashi took another deep breath and stopped. On the right wall of the passageway was an automatic door, and further down the wall was a metal panel with a sign that read "First Special Measurement Equipment Room"—a very professional-sounding name. He swiped his card and entered a rather long and narrow room. On the front wall was another door identical to the one he had just entered, and on the right was a control panel equipped with several screens. Although there was a large, horizontal window on the left wall, the glass was tinted, obscuring the view inside.

"This is a sterile room, so we can't go in. Please understand." As he said this, he manipulated the machine in front of him. The color of the window immediately faded rapidly with a slight vibration, eventually becoming transparent glass, revealing the scene behind it.

It was a fairly spacious room, but the numerous instruments inside made it seem particularly cramped. In the center of the room was a gel bed, and a petite figure lay half-submerged in it, the white sheet covering her up to her chest. Her exposed shoulders were shockingly thin, and her arms were connected to various machines around her by tubes.

"Is that Yuki? And a blood infection... she has AIDS?"

When Mo Yulan heard the phrase "blood-borne infection," that was the first thing that came to mind. Dr. Cangqiao's appearance also confirmed this assessment.

"But with current technology, AIDS shouldn't be a terminal illness, right? At least if it's detected early, there's still room for treatment. Didn't you discover her infection when she was born?"

"That's right, but it's not what you imagine. The survival rate for newborns in this area isn't very good. Kapok also went through a long struggle against the disease, but unfortunately... After I learned that the first 'Medicuboid' experiment was completed, I made a suggestion to Kapok and her family: to let her enter the sterile room and use this machine to improve her quality of life. So she... lived in this machine, no, I should say, in the virtual world for three years."

Hearing this, Mo Yulan finally understood where the fluid movements he saw Yuuki and the others make in the game come from. He had originally thought that people like him, who had been trapped in SAO for a long time, were the group with the longest stealth experience in the world, but now it seemed that this petite girl in front of him was the real virtual world traveler.

But he also knew that this situation couldn't last long. A sterile room could only guarantee the absence of other bacteria in the environment; the pathogens in Yuki's body wouldn't disappear just because she stayed there. In other words, the reason she said goodbye to them was that her time was running out.

He didn't intend for this to truly be the last time he saw Yuki. In fact, he had been plotting how to save the girl on the way here. Thinking of this, he looked at Dr. Kurahashi again and suddenly spoke.

Do you have her detailed medical records? I think... I should know someone who can help her.

"Impossible. I understand your feelings, Mr. Mo. But firstly, medical records shouldn't be public information, and secondly, I suspect you're questioning our capabilities. What we can do is already the best we can in every sense." Dr. Kurahashi rejected the suggestion without hesitation. "However, I might be curious, who is this person you mentioned who can help her?"

"Gustave Kateb, have you heard of that name?"