“4, 3, 2, 1…”
Just before the clock struck 11.30, Asuna tilted the already opened glass jar toward the gravestone.
The moment the “Dreamseed” touched the stone, a gentle breeze swept by, causing the branches of the small tree in front of Akimi and her to sway.
Then, two identical leaves, their tips tinged faintly with yellow, drifted down into their hands.
After receiving the leaves, Asuna took a deep breath, then performed a series of strange, somewhat silly-looking gestures toward the gravestone—wiggling her hips, twirling on her toes like a soft, lovestruck heroine in a romance anime…
Argo had said these moves were required to trigger the event, though Akimi was far more inclined to believe it was just one of Argo’s little pranks—he hadn’t forgotten how hard Argo was trying to suppress her grin when explaining it to Asuna.
If it were him doing the motions, Akimi was sure it would’ve been unbearably cringeworthy.
Luckily, Asuna made them look quite pleasing to the eye.
He couldn’t help but think to himself that the trip was already worth it.
But before he could enjoy the sight for long, Asuna finished the sequence, folded her arms across her chest, and said calmly:
“Alright, your turn, A-ki-mi-kun—”
Her words froze the smile on his face instantly, leaving him feeling awkward.
Pointing at himself stiffly, he muttered:
“Huh? Me… I have to do it too? That’s… really not appropriate, is it?”
“What else? You expect me to go in alone?” Asuna shot back with hands on her hips.
He chuckled weakly, waving his hands.
“Of course not… it’s just, those moves are a bit—”
Before he could finish, Asuna pulled him right in front of the gravestone.
Watching his uneasy expression, she grinned and said:
“Quit wasting time, we’re about to hit the time limit. It’s just a few simple moves, you haven’t forgotten, right?”
After struggling for a moment, Akimi clenched his teeth, rubbed his face hard with both hands, and reassured himself: “Anyway, no one else is here.”
Then, closing his eyes, he began to perform the sequence Argo had taught them.
At that exact moment, Asuna, like a little fox whose trick had succeeded, let out two sneaky chuckles and quietly turned on the system recorder.
As sharp as she was, of course she had noticed Argo’s odd expression back then—not only that, but Argo had actually already told Asuna about the Labyrinth of Slumber beforehand.
Under Asuna’s subtle threats and coaxing, Argo had also made a small “adjustment” to the part she told Akimi.
And so, what had originally been just a set of gestures Argo made up to tease Asuna, turned into a prank where both Argo and Asuna were waiting together to laugh at Akimi’s expense—
To trigger the Labyrinth of Slumber, there weren’t any special conditions at all.
No second-perfect timing, no silly sequence of actions—just pouring the Dreamseed onto the gravestone was enough.
Unfortunately, Akimi didn’t know that.
Under Asuna’s “pressure,” he quickly went through the motions.
“Not bad~” Asuna said with a bright smile.
“If Akimi-kun were a girl, you’d definitely be really cute—though this isn’t bad either.”
Her words made his face flush red… and he couldn’t help but feel a faint sense of danger aimed his way.
Sure enough, when he stiffly turned his head toward Asuna and saw the mischievous grin on her face, his heart sank.
“Mmm—Akimi-kun, you wouldn’t want your embarrassing moves shown to all the players, would you…” Asuna tilted her head, speaking words that didn’t sound quite right.
“Yes, I think that’s how I should put it.”
Feeling his breath catch in his throat, Akimi pursed his lips and asked in a trembling voice:
“A-Asuna… who did you learn this from? Don’t joke about something like that…”
But his question only made Asuna’s smile grow brighter.
Pointing straight at him, she said:
“I learned it from you, Akimi-kun. Any problem with that?”
Then she immediately opened the recording and played it right in front of him, bold and unashamed.
At that moment, Akimi’s last shred of hope died.
“…Fine. Asuna, what do you actually want?” he asked in a tone completely drained of color, as if resigned to his fate.
Asuna tilted her head, thought for a moment, then answered softly:
“Hmm~~ I haven’t decided yet. I’ll tell you once I figure it out.”
Akimi covered his face in agony—just like standing at the guillotine, the waiting before the blade fell was far more terrifying than the cut itself.
And as it turned out, having a thick skin and fearing social death were two entirely different things.
——————-
As the two of them were talking, a small hidden door appeared at the base of the gravestone’s pedestal.
Beneath it was a box of unknown material, with delicate, intricate patterns carved into its inner walls.
Exchanging a glance, Akimi and Asuna placed the two leaves they had just obtained into the box.
The instant the leaves touched its surface, they vanished, and the carved patterns within the box began to emit a faint blue glow.
The secret door on the pedestal then closed quickly, leaving no trace it had ever been there.
“According to Argo, next we just have to lie down in front of the gravestone…”
The smile that had been on Asuna’s face was now replaced by a look of unease—after all, she had always been afraid of ghosts and spirits.
The idea of lying down before a gravestone naturally made her uneasy.
Akimi, on the other hand, didn’t mind at all.
He simply lay down without hesitation, hands tucked behind his head, then turned slightly toward Asuna and reassured her:
“Since Argo told us about it without giving any warnings, we can be pretty sure it’s not dangerous.”
“Easy for you to say…”
Murmuring a small complaint, Asuna didn’t argue further.
She slowly lay down beside him.
The sun in Aincrad, even at noon, was never glaring.
On the skin, it only felt warm and comforting—perhaps this was Kayaba Akihiko’s final act of mercy toward the players.
But Asuna soon felt that something was wrong—lying down didn’t trigger anything at all.
There were no signs that the special event had activated, which was unlike every other hidden event she had encountered before.
She couldn’t help but wonder if they had done something wrong, or if Argo’s information had been inaccurate.
But when she quickly turned her head to look at Akimi, she found that he had already closed his eyes, looking as if he had fallen asleep.
“What is this… just closed his eyes and dozed off? This isn’t even a safe zone, and he has no sense of caution at all.” Asuna whispered her mild complaint in dissatisfaction.
But she didn’t wake him up.
Instead, she absentmindedly stared at the boy’s handsome face.
It wasn’t the kind of “chiseled, strikingly handsome, god-like looks” that male leads in romance novels usually had, but it was pleasant and comforting to look at.
A gentle breeze passed again, lifting a few strands of hair on his forehead, adding a subtle touch of life to his features.
At that moment, a butterfly suddenly appeared.
Its wings shimmered with blue and violet, tinged with faint pink.
Fractured-glass-like patterns stretched across its surface, with sparkling diamond-like flecks adorning the edges.
It lightly landed on the tip of Akimi’s nose.
As if sensing the flutter of its wings, his eyelids trembled faintly, but he did not wake.
Watching the scene, Asuna suddenly felt her heart relax.
Her eyelids lowered as she smiled softly and whispered:
“…Forget it. Good night.”
Then she shifted onto her side, facing Akimi, and slowly closed her eyes as well.
— The end of the Chapter–
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