-1784- The limited imagination

During her childhood, Asuna always thought it was perfectly natural to celebrate the New Year at her family's ancestral home.

However, since reaching middle school age, Asuna gradually began to feel a suffocating sense of pressure about this tradition.

The family gatherings at her ancestral home, under the guise of reunion, were nothing short of a battlefield for comparisons.

Since the family hailed from a prestigious lineage, and were bound by the ties of blood, everyone sought to showcase that they had achieved more than the others. Every household wanted their children to outshine the rest, aiming to stand at the pinnacle of the Yuuki family battlefield, to be admired with envy and sought after by others, as a way of proving their own success in life and elevated social status.

It's human nature, after all.

It's similar to modern-day class reunions: on the surface, it's about reconnecting with old friends, but in reality, it's a stage for showing off one's achievements, demonstrating how far one has come, and observing how others have fallen behind and struggle at the bottom of society.

If a mere class reunion could be like that, a 200-year-old prominent family was bound to see even more intricate dynamics.

Because of this, parents would focus all their efforts on climbing the social ladder, often at the cost of spending time with their children. Meanwhile, children were burdened with relentless academic pursuits, devoid of any real childhood, a reality not just for the Yuuki family but for many other affluent families.

Asuna was no exception. Like other children in the Yuuki family, she accepted the so-called elite education as a given, striving to avoid falling behind. This mindset was why she found herself unable to accept the fact that she was trapped in SAO, unable to learn, grow, or keep up with the world while wasting time in what was dubbed the Death Game.

As a result, in the early stages of the game, Asuna was utterly despondent. Later, she became a obsessed with clearing, ruthlessly pushing herself to clear the game as quickly as possible and return to the real world to make up for lost time.

Now that Asuna had escaped and returned to reality, she was acutely aware of how her relatives would view her for the two years she had "wasted."

Her cousins, enrolled in prestigious schools and excelling as exemplary students, would surely look at her with pity, lamenting how quickly she had fallen behind in this lifelong competition that began at birth.

But Asuna was no longer the same person she had been.

In the past, she had been like any other child in the Yuuki family, focused solely on studying, improving herself, getting into a top university, and landing a job at a prestigious company to become a so-called successful person. However, her mindset had completely changed now.

She loved the school she currently attended, even if it wasn't a prestigious institution.

She cherished her current life, even if others couldn't understand why she had spent time playing a game.

And her ultimate goal was to create a true home in the real world with the man she loved most before her.

Because of this, the pity from her cousins, along with the condescending attitudes of her many uncles and aunts, was nothing more than a breeze brushing against the surface of Asuna's heart—it had no power to affect her.

But her relatives would never understand this perspective. To them, her mindset would only seem like residual damage caused by VRMMOs.

Given this, it was easy to imagine why Asuna wouldn't want Rozen to visit her ancestral home and why the whole situation left her feeling so emotionally and physically drained.

Of course, they also wouldn't understand Rozen's current position.

It was true that Rozen was collaborating with the government—a fact widely known.

But what people knew was very limited.

For instance, although Asuna and others knew that Rozen was the true holder of the World Seed, collaborating with the government through virtual technology to earn royalties and game revenues, amassing considerable wealth, and occasionally engaging with virtual technology projects, that was the extent of their knowledge.

Even Yuuki Shouzou, who had witnessed Rozen requesting medical aid for Asuna from the government, only thought of Rozen as someone special due to his role as a hero in SAO—a figure who had garnered government attention and established certain undisclosed connections. Simply put, he assumed Rozen's unique experiences had allowed him to work in some classified capacity for the government.

But who would ever believe that a high school student could wield such influence, introducing technologies nonexistent in this world and even negotiating as an equal with the government?

Nobody would believe it. As such, Rozen's remarkable experiences and achievements might astonish the Yuuki family but would ultimately earn him nothing more than mockery and scorn.

In their eyes, no matter what feats Rozen had accomplished in SAO, it remained a harmful Death Game. Being involved with such a scourge was akin to having worked in the underworld—a mark of shame.

Naturally, no matter how wealthy Rozen was, lacking an established family business, corporate connections, or a prestigious background, he was, at best, a nouveau riche—a figure unworthy of respect.

As the saying goes, poverty limits imagination. Likewise, Rozen's age and background constrained their understanding, leaving them unable to fathom that Rozen wasn't working for the government but was instead collaborating with it as an equal.

While the Yuuki family certainly had influence, aside from one relative said to be capable of reaching the upper echelons of government, it was unlikely anyone else would comprehend Rozen's true capabilities.

This was also why Asuna's mother had never approved of him.

"...Originally, mother didn't agree to bring you to the ancestral home, but father has already approved of our engagement. Given the family's stature, the Yuuki family cannot afford to go back on their word, so mother has no choice but to prepare herself for the ridicule at the family banquet," Asuna explained.

Her eyes grew wearier as she spoke, unable to hide her emotions.

"They have no idea just how extraordinary you are."

This was Asuna's belief.

Even though Asuna herself didn't fully understand Rozen's position, she was certain that his abilities far surpassed the petty competition among her relatives.

Trying to oppress Rozen with family background was akin to the behavior of a nouveau riche—it was laughable.

Rozen could imagine how much Asuna must have argued and debated with her family over this matter.

Otherwise, her smile wouldn't have been so forced, and her eyes wouldn't have been so tired.

Rozen's frustration wasn't directed at Asuna but rather at the Yuuki family and their ways.

"Let's go," Rozen said, simply.

"Are you sure...?" Asuna asked worriedly, looking up at him.

"I'll be fine." Rozen patted her head gently. "Trust me."

"...Okay." Asuna nodded.

The two of them then left together, heading toward the Yuuki family home.