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

"I'm sorry to bother you again, Dr. Kurahashi, but we need to see Kapok Yuki as soon as possible."

Mo Yulan's words conveyed a serious and undeniable tone. Although Dr. Cangqiao was puzzled, he still subconsciously responded to him.

"I'm sorry, but this doesn't comply with hospital regulations, or perhaps..."

"I don't have much time to waste here. I'm the only one who can save Mu Mianji right now. Believe it or not, it's up to you, but please get out of the way immediately." As Mo Yulan said this, he anxiously looked towards the door. Although there was nothing unusual on the street, the unusually quiet street still made him feel uneasy.

“This request is a bit excessive, unless you can prove it…” Cangqiao had no idea what Mo Yulan was doing. He just answered with formulaic language, but he didn’t expect that Mo Yulan would pull out a gun and aim it at his head. He could hear the click of the safety being released near his thumb.

"Hurry up! There's no time for nonsense! If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility, okay?"

"Alright, alright... if you insist." Cangqiao reluctantly raised his hand, then led Mo Yulan out of the room and into the staff elevator they had used before. "I guarantee your girlfriend won't want to see you like this. It's too rude."

"Say what you will. If it weren't for the need to resolve this as quickly as possible, I probably would have just stood in your office trying to persuade you, instead of using such a crude method," Mo Yulan explained quickly. "Special circumstances require special treatment; there's no other way."

The elevator ascended quickly. He held the Eden Cross in his hand, strode out, and stood in front of the sterile room.

"I'm opening the door. Try to hurry," Kurahashi reminded him, standing in front of the computer operating the instruments inside the sterile room.

“We don’t have much time to begin with, you don’t need to remind me of that,” Mo Yulan said calmly. He placed the Eden Cross on Yuki’s chest, and the moment it touched her chest, the Eden Cross suddenly flashed a bright white light, which then instantly subsided, leaving only a sliver of light that was almost invisible in the daytime.

"It worked. Hopefully it won't take too long," he thought. As he wished, the strange scene lasted only half a minute before Eden's Cross returned to its previous ordinary appearance, with no apparent changes on its surface.

"It's really amazing. Miss Mu Mianji's bodily functions are rapidly recovering, and all the pathogens that could be detected in her body before have disappeared." Dr. Cangqiao said with admiration as he walked over, but the next moment Mo Yulan pointed the gun in her hand at him again.

"Forget about all that. If anyone comes looking for you, don't reveal any information related to this treatment... Of course, if they come after you, you might not be able to keep it from them." Mo Yulan sighed, put down the gun, and walked back to the elevator. "Anyway, thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Cangqiao."

"It's alright, I'm just happy to see Miss Mumianji recover, even though it has nothing to do with me..." Cangqiao was still shaken by Mo Yulan's seemingly reckless behavior, and he vaguely felt that this was something he couldn't possibly understand, so he didn't press the matter, but simply led him back to the hospital's lobby. Meanwhile, Youna and Aiweixin had been waiting there for quite some time.

Shino wasn't here. She had found a hotel in advance and booked a room on a high floor. She then used her R700 to park on the street where Mo Yulan had parked. This way, it would be safer for her.

"It feels so quiet, there are hardly any people on the street, it's so different from the last time we came here."

Looking out the gate at the street in front of the hospital, Yuna couldn't help but sigh. This was unexpected for Mo Yulan; he had thought the attack would begin the moment they obtained the Eden's Cross. However, it seemed that wasn't the case; at least they had managed to bring the cross safely to the hospital where Yuki was currently staying.

"Yeah, it's probably not time to get off work yet," Mo Yulan replied casually.

"But those things don't matter anymore. Yuuki is working hard in her battle, so we have to do our best too." Yuna encouraged Mo Yulan from the side, while also looking towards the door with some worry.

"At least our efforts so far haven't been in vain, have they? And they will continue to be so in the future. As long as we keep moving forward, the road will keep extending."

"Wait a minute, something seems off about those lines." Sinon, listening to the two's strange conversation, suddenly sensed something was amiss and quickly alerted them via her radio, "Wait a minute, Sorin..."

But it was too late; at least the two of them were already out of the hospital. On the other side of the street, a screeching sound of brakes rang out, and a black sedan came to a stop. Four men dressed in black Templar uniforms jumped out and quickly drew their guns, aiming at Mo Yulan.

However, Mo Yulan reacted faster. He threw the Eden's Cross to Aivisin and then pulled Youna to hide behind their car, thus avoiding a sudden death like Olga's.

Without hesitation, Ivy Shin took off swiftly and flew straight towards the seaside. Shino accurately eliminated the two foremost of the four, and then Mo Yulan took out the remaining two. Everything happened incredibly strangely, as if the Templar Knights had simply sent these people to steal Eden's Cross.

“They have others coming, so we should split up and retreat now, otherwise they'll all go after Ivy Xin.”

Mo Yulan quickly realized this wasn't the enemy's full force. As he spoke, he walked around to the driver's side, took out his keys, started the engine, and, seeing You Na get in from the other side, floored the gas and sped off. The car started quickly, disappearing from the eerily deserted street in the blink of an eye. Although he could roughly sense that the pursuers were still on their way, they were now on a main road with more people and vehicles. Even if they wanted to make a move, they would have to consider the risk of being exposed to the public eye.

"I'll be seriously injured? What a joke! These weaklings aren't even qualified to follow me around and get their ass kicked."

However, no sooner had he finished speaking than a deadly bullet suddenly struck from afar, piercing his left chest. His vision blurred instantly, and with his remaining consciousness, he slammed on the brakes with all his might.

"Lan!"

Underworld, March 1, 378th year of the Human Calendar

"I don't know where I am, but I'm sure this isn't the real world. But... why am I here?"

The boy opened his beautiful blue-violet eyes and curiously surveyed his surroundings. First, he saw a patch of pale green grass, followed by scattered white and yellow wildflowers, and shimmering blue butterflies among the blossoms. The carpet-like grass vanished just five meters ahead, revealing a deep forest filled with towering ancient trees, their age unknown.

Countless rays of light rushed into his eyes, seemingly sunlight filtering through the thick shade of trees, causing him to blink several times. He held a strand of hair beside his ear in front of his eyes; the silvery, crystalline strand shone brilliantly in the sunlight, confirming some of his suspicions.

"First of all, I am Mo Yulan—my memory is accurate. Before coming here... I think I was setting off fireworks with You Na in the suburbs. She leaned on my shoulder, and then..."

He tried hard to recall this place, but then his memory seemed to go blank, and he couldn't recall even the slightest thing afterward. It was as if he was watching fireworks by a tree on the snow and the next moment he was here.

"WDNMD, I'm dumbfounded! I'm devastated! What is all this about?" He stood up, his clear voice and rough, gruff words echoing through the woods. "What happened after that? How did I get home? What time did I get home and go to bed? Or did none of this happen?"

He closed his eyes slightly and carefully dug into the deepest memories in his mind, but he could only recall two things—the shattered windshield and the tearing pain in his left chest.

"If my memory serves me right, I should still be in China, or more precisely, still in Harbin. But I'm actually in a virtual world right now, even if it's more realistic than any game I've ever played." He slumped down under the tree, whispering softly, a voice so faint that only he could hear it.

No one responded to him; he was all alone, without his companions or Yuna, who stood quietly behind him with her flute. All of this left him feeling somewhat lost and disoriented.

Only then did he realize that he was wearing rather strange clothing—it wasn't his usual fluffy pajamas, nor the [Raider's Battle Suit], nor the little dress Yuna had prepared for him. In fact, it didn't resemble any clothing sold in the market at all.

His upper body was clad in a light blue shirt made of coarse cotton or linen, the fabric's weave quite irregularly and its texture rather rough, suggesting it was handmade. His trousers were made of the same material, a natural creamy yellow, and had no pockets. His shoes were lace-up sandals with a single piece of leather sole, the top strap reaching approximately to his ankle. Through the light-colored straps, he could see a pair of bare, white feet exposed to the air, and then he examined his arms, finding them to be the same pristine white.

"Shit. This character is probably the same type as me in real life, seriously. I just don't understand, why can Kirito sculpt a big, rough guy but I can't... Wait, I think I forgot something."

After muttering a couple of sentences, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and tried to pull up his system menu, but he did not succeed.

"Command: Exit!" he shouted, but there was still no response.

"What the hell? This is definitely a virtual world, that's what my gut feeling tells me. But then this happens... Am I kidnapped and transported to another Sword Art Online? And I can't even get out? So what if I die?"

His tone suddenly took on a slightly mocking tone. After the previous attempt, he began another.

"Kaori? Died out? Where is he?"

Still, no one responded to him. Logically, Kayaba Akihiko was already living as a pure data life form in the virtual world, and these countless virtual worlds were his eyes. Logically, Kayaba Akihiko shouldn't be unable to see him.

"Hey, this is weird. Or have I been kidnapped by an even more awesome programmer and trapped in a virtual world that the koala can't control? But that doesn't make sense. What do I have that they would want? I just can't figure it out."

After all this commotion, he still couldn't figure out the specific situation, which reminded him of a basic human need—he was thirsty.

Judging from the sun's position, he figured the sound of flowing water he was hearing was coming from the east. So he decided to explore in that direction first. He didn't have any familiar weapon cases, swords, or even a handy wooden stick, so he had no choice but to set off empty-handed.

"If I run into something like a Stranglethorn Vale tiger, I'll be instantly killed! This is ridiculous! What kind of game would give me such a start? Why don't you just kill me outright?"

He used such ramblings to dispel his unease, and after passing two old trees that stood before him like a porch, the view suddenly opened up. The dense foliage above almost completely blocked out the sunlight, with only a few thin golden ribbons reaching the ground. The butterflies had all vanished, replaced by strange insects like dragonflies, making it seem quite different from the real Earth.

After walking for about fifteen or sixteen minutes, he finally realized that he was getting close to the water source, and the trees in front of him were becoming thinner and thinner, indicating that he was almost out of the forest. After truly leaving the forest, he saw the water's surface reflecting the sunlight and shimmering silver.

"The water's here too, have a drink first... So the next part of the story isn't going to be 'following the stream, forgetting how far the road is, suddenly encountering a peach blossom forest,' right? That's too far-fetched."

He gently curled up his legs and sat by the water, cupping a little clear stream water in his hands. Then he saw his current reflection in the water—still the same lovely face as in real life.

He was too lazy to even complain about how cute he was again. The overwhelming thirst made him quickly drink the stream water he was holding, and then drink it in the same elegant way. But just then, a clear, youthful voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

Underworld, March 2, 378th year of the Human Calendar

He turned around warily, looking towards the source of the abrupt voice. The other person was a boy around Kirito's age, probably seventeen or eighteen, with soft, dark brown hair that was swaying slightly. The boy's clothing was similar to Kirito's, a shirt and trousers made of coarse cloth, and he was holding some kind of round object in his right hand.

What's most incredible is this person's appearance. Although his skin is milky white, he doesn't look like a Westerner... nor does he have an Eastern face. He has slender eyes and a nose, and his pupils are dark green.

However, the person was also stunned when he saw him, for no other reason than that the one in front of him seemed a little too cute.

"Um, just call me Suolin... I'm sorry, that's all I remember."

When Suolin was unaware of the current situation, he did not hesitate to play dumb. After all, he really did not know anything about this world, so it was not a lie.

"I don't know where I came from. When I woke up, I found myself lying in the forest."

He lowered his head, his expression suddenly darkening. His long eyelashes drooped, obscuring his eyes, but his gaze betrayed an uncontrollable panic and desolation. The young man before him took in this sight, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache.

"You don't even remember where you live?" He crouched down, reaching out to pat Sorin's head, but Sorin dodged him by moving back a couple of times. "That's incredible. Could you be a 'Lost One of Vector'? I've heard of such things, but this is the first time I've ever seen one."

“The Lost Ones of Vector? What are those?” Thorin asked疑惑地, then covered his head with his hands and glared angrily at the boy. “Don’t touch my head!”

The boy was startled by Solin's sudden outburst. He smiled awkwardly, then withdrew his hand and scratched his head sheepishly.

“I’m sorry… but don’t you have this kind of saying in your hometown? In our village, we call someone who suddenly disappears and then suddenly reappears in the forest or wilderness. Usually, the Dark God Vekuda will kidnap people as a prank, erase their memories from birth, and throw them to a faraway place. A long time ago, an old woman from our village also disappeared.”

“Then I might be in the same situation.” Solin nodded thoughtfully, then stood up and lightly brushed the dust off his clothes. “I… I have no idea what to do right now. I want to leave here, but I’ve even forgotten where my home is…”

It's unclear whether this person is a player or an NPC, but their behavior doesn't seem to follow the logic of a player—if they were a player, they would recognize Sorin and ask for his autograph, and if they didn't, they would do a series of things to the girl in front of them that might increase their favorability, but the boy in front of them didn't do any of those things.

From another perspective, however, he couldn't distinguish the NPC from a real person at all. If this were an AI, it would undoubtedly be a true artificial intelligence capable of passing the Turing test; one could even say that this person possessed a soul, just like his beloved daughter and her girlfriend.

"If I'm the only player in this world, things will get complicated. Hopefully, there's some way I can get out." He thought to himself, roughly planning his next move. First, he needed to develop some self-defense capabilities in this world, and then he would start looking for a way or key to escape.

Although he knew nothing about the situation outside, he had a vague feeling that things were not going well.

“I can take you back to the village. Our village is just north of here, but since no tourists come here, there are no hotels. However… if you explain the details to Sister Asalia at the church, she might be able to help you.” He said, extending his right hand toward Sorin. “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Eugeo. Nice to meet you, Miss Sorin.”

"Nice to meet you. And most importantly, I'm a man, so please don't use that embarrassing form of address, Eugeo." Sorin suppressed the urge to hit him and explained calmly, then reached out and shook Eugeo's right hand. "It's so kind of you to help me. I'll go to the village and take a look. Is it okay to just head north from here?"

Sorin shifted his gaze to the side and, sure enough, noticed a narrow path leading forward in the opposite direction from where he had come from. But just as he was about to take a step, Eugeo preemptively reached out his left hand to stop him.

“Ah, wait a minute. There are guards in the village. If you suddenly try to enter the village alone, it might be difficult to explain to them. I think it's better if I go with you to explain to them.” Eugeo’s expression suddenly darkened again as he said this. “But I can’t take you there right away because I have work to do…”

"Work?"

“Yes, it’s my lunch break now,” Eugeo explained. Sorin followed Eugeo’s gaze and looked to the side, then saw two bread-like objects (that looked like bread) in the cloth bag at his feet. He must have been holding those at the beginning. As for the other items, there was only a water bottle.

"You eat this?" Solin pointed to the bread-like thing and asked doubtfully, "It really is a medieval standard of living..."

"Medieval living standards?"

"No, I was just talking nonsense. It's just my hometown dialect."

“Oh, I see. By the way, if you’re willing to wait until work is over, I’ll go to church with you and ask Sister Asalia to let you stay at her place… but you’ll have to wait about four hours.” Eugeo scratched his head and continued.

"It's alright, I'll wait for you... Thank you for your help." Solin replied with a smile, and the boy in front of him was momentarily stunned when he saw Solin's smile.

"Is it really a boy..." he muttered to himself in a tone of utter disbelief.

“It’s the real deal. If you doubt this again, I’ll hit you.” Sorin waved his fist at Eugeo, then turned his head away as if he were sulking. “Take me to your workplace. Speaking of which… what exactly is your job? It sounds pretty formal.”

"They're lumberjacks... You'll find out when the time comes, Sorin."

Underworld, March 3, 378th year of the Human Calendar

Suolin was certain that even in the Greater Khingan Mountains, he had never seen a tree of such exaggerated size. The tree's radius was approximately five meters, with a wedge-shaped opening about one meter deep on one side. The wood inside appeared carbonized, with faint metallic luster visible around the dense growth rings.

The boy named Eugeo was gripping a peculiar, oversized logging axe, swinging it at the cut surface every four seconds, producing a clanging sound. His movements were remarkably fluid, possessing a unique beauty in Sorin's eyes.

"Is your job to cut down these huge trees?" Sorin asked curiously. "Is this one-meter-long section all you've accomplished these past few days?"