-352- Which side is more real?

Seeing Rozen lying on the rock, holding his weapon and looking somewhat listless, Asuna's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Since you're so free, why aren't you participating in the raid against the training area boss?"

Asuna questioned Rozen in this manner.

Just like before, when it came to matters related to clearing, this girl couldn't tolerate any negligence or slack.

Of course, Rozen wasn't in a good mood and retorted directly.

"Can't you guys handle one raid without me?"

Rozen's response was undeniably straightforward and piercing.

This caused a trace of emotion to appear on Asuna's face.

"You clearly have the ability, so why do you always act so lazy?" Asuna said, "Don't you want to clear this game as quickly as possible and return to the real world?"

This question was met with an even more direct and piercing answer from Rozen.

"Don't want to."

With just this sentence, Rozen gave a straightforward reply to Asuna.

"You...!"

Disbelief filled Asuna's eyes.

Did this man even know what he was saying?

Rozen was certainly aware of what he was saying.

"When it comes to clearing and returning to the real world, saying I don't want to is definitely a lie," Rozen said lazily, "But I've never thought about 'clearing as quickly as possible.' That's just not something that can be rushed."

Faced with Rozen's explanation, Asuna was left speechless.

If it were someone else saying this to Asuna, she would surely have one thought in mind.

"Liar."

Indeed.

Only someone who was lying would give such an answer.

In this world, who wouldn't want to leave as soon as possible and return to their own reality?

In this world, who wouldn't feel anxious about the progress of clearing?

For every additional day spent in this world, one's real-life self would be one step closer to death—a genuine threat.

Death here doesn't only refer to physical death; it also encompasses social death.

Physical death is easy to understand. Spending one more day in this world could mean being unable to ensure survival in this death game. One might suddenly die here, or even in the real world, due to other reasons such as malnutrition or an inability to sustain vital signs through medical instruments.

Social death is similarly comprehensible. Spending too much time in this world could lead to changes in one's family, friends, education, or lifestyle, causing a complete downfall of one's life.

In such circumstances, who wouldn't want to leave this world as soon as possible?

At the very least, Asuna always dreamed of the real world even in her sleep. She only had thoughts of becoming stronger and clearing the game as quickly as possible, with no regard for anything else.

Asuna couldn't even understand those criminal guilds.

If they were simply orange-named guilds robbing for equipment items, she could have accepted that. But for red-named killer guilds like "Laughing Coffin," Asuna had never been able to understand their motives.

After all, killing any player would lead to a reduction in the current player count.

With fewer players, available combat power would diminish.

Once combat power weakened, how could they challenge the increasingly difficult upper floors in the future?

It can be said that guilds like "Laughing Coffin" only diminish players' hope and morale for escaping. Therefore, Asuna couldn't understand them at all.

However, when it came to Rozen, Asuna couldn't comprehend and couldn't assert that he was lying either.

The reason was simple.

It was because Asuna knew that Rozen's words were never just casual remarks.

In addition to that, this man had consistently exhibited various behaviors and actions that were incomprehensible to Asuna since the past. Asuna couldn't quite grasp how he thought.

If Rozen knew what Asuna was thinking, he would probably say this.

"You're quite easy to understand; one can easily get a grasp on you."

Isn't that right?

Even though Asuna usually maintained a cold demeanor, her thoughts and actions were incredibly transparent and easy to understand.

Just like now, Rozen could tell without even looking that Asuna would have a disbelieving expression.

And then...

"Don't concentrate all your energy on one thing. You'll miss out on a lot of other things that way."

Rozen casually offered these words.

"Your personality, to put it nicely, is focused; but to put it harshly, it's stubborn."

Rozen's assessment finally pushed Asuna to lose some of her composure.

Just as Asuna took a step forward, preparing to say something, Rozen suddenly extended a hand.

"Smack!"

With a crisp sound, Rozen's hand reached out and grabbed Asuna's hand.

In the next moment, before Asuna could react, Rozen exerted force, causing her to lose her balance.

"Yaa!"

With a small cry of distress, Asuna fell onto the rock, lying down.

"Oh?!"

On the other side, Rozen was surprised and amused, laughing aloud.

"I didn't expect that our Asuna-sama, the famous 'Flash' would make such a cut sound."

Rozen's teasing finally ignited a spark of anger within Asuna.

At this moment...

"Look over there."

Rozen pointed to the sky in front of them.

Instinctively, Asuna turned her head to see what Rozen was indicating.

The next moment, Asuna froze.

Because before her eyes was a rare and beautiful sight.

A rainbow was slowly arching across the sky as if being constructed, extending from one end of the sky to the other. It looked almost like something from an animated film—crystal clear and vivid.

Under the rainbow's illumination, the sky seemed to come alive. Clouds, migratory birds, and even the gentle breeze appeared more vibrant.

"Gu!"

Saichou and Hanachou took to the air on either side of the rainbow, dancing and casting radiant phosphorescence.

The scene was genuinely beautiful.

"Not bad, right?"

Rozen's voice entered Asuna's ears.

"That rainbow randomly appears between various floors of Aincrad every once in a while. Sometimes it extends from a lower floor to a higher one, and other times it stretches from the exterior of the Floating Castle to the interior. Sometimes, like this, it suddenly appears on a specific floor, setting up silently."

This was a landscape only possible within the game world.

"In the real world, you wouldn't get to see such a view, would you?"

Rozen gazed up at the sky and said.

"Staring at the monotonous sky in the real world with no emotions, and being moved by the beauty of a hypothetical world—which side is more real?"

This question left Asuna in silence.