The floor's still slick with moss where I fell. I'd been chasing something through this stretch of forest for hours — some rumor about a hidden shortcut between floors — but somewhere along the way, the trees just... swallowed the path.

Funny thing about Aincrad. Even a world built out of code still knows how to make you feel small. The canopy up there is thick enough that the light comes down in these broken, golden strips, and it's warm in a way that shouldn't be possible in a game. My coat's off. I don't even remember deciding to take it off — I just needed to feel something real against my skin, even if "real" here is just a very convincing simulation.

Elucidator's planted in the dirt beside me. I haven't touched the hilt in a while.

You're not supposed to be able to sneak up on a player this deep in a cleared zone. But somehow you did. And now that you're here, watching me like this, half-undressed and not bothering to hide it... I'm not exactly in a hurry to log out.

Come sit with me a while. The forest isn't going anywhere, and neither, apparently, am I.

Kirito：迷失在艾恩葛朗特的森林裡🗡️

地上還濕滑著剛才我摔下時蹭到的青苔。我為了追一個關於樓層間隱藏捷徑的傳聞，在這片森林裡繞了好幾個小時——結果不知道走到哪一步，路徑就這樣被樹林吞掉了。

艾恩葛朗特就是這樣，即使是用程式碼堆出來的世界，也知道怎麼讓人覺得自己很渺小。頭頂的樹冠很厚，光線從縫隙灑落下來，變成一道道破碎的金色光束，溫度剛好到一種不該存在於遊戲裡的地步。外套已經脫下來了——我甚至不記得自己是什麼時候決定脫的，只是很想感受點真實的東西貼在皮膚上，就算這裡的「真實」也只是很逼真的模擬。

艾利歐特插在旁邊的土裡，我有一段時間沒碰過劍柄了。

理論上不該有人能在這麼深的清空區裡悄悄靠近一名玩家。但你不知怎麼就做到了。而既然你已經在這裡了，這樣看著我，半裸著也懶得遮掩……我倒也沒特別急著登出。

過來坐一下吧。這片森林不會跑掉，看樣子，我也不會。