Chapter 1081 - In the World of White
You are watching.
The invisible tears are precious,
The forced smile is sorrowful,
And I realized those eyes are simply looking at the present and the past.
Is it too much to hope that I have added the present to the past?
Is it too much to be bold enough to push the future onto you as well?
I learned of preciousness from our reflecting eyes.
I learned of warmth from our joined hands.
I learned of you from our connected hearts.
I believe it because I'm sure it's a mirror image.
I don't know the right answer.
I don't know the words I should say.
I have no interest in the will of the world.
I only hope that this wish will become your wish as well...
And so, I thought I would hold this hand forever.
...
What comes to mind when you think of white?
The first thing that might pop up is a terrifyingly transformed, monstrous dragon. Or a majestic white dragon with a halo... wait, that's already a bit much.
I'm clearly trapped, body and soul, in the virtual world.
Next would be... milk. I don't have any special feelings for it, but maybe because it's so common, it just comes to mind easily.
Ever since I was little, my family's milk consumption has been several times higher than the average household. My mother simply likes drinking it, and my father uses a lot for making sweets.
When you open the fridge, there are usually at least four cartons lined up. When it drops below two, it's a signal to restock. As a kid, I used to chug it just to trigger a shopping trip event.
Anyway, everyone has different impressions. But there is one thing that generally has a strong image of white, and it's something huge.
Well, it's a building. Or rather, an organization and a base?
I don't particularly like them.
It's not that I hate them, but I only remember being taken care of by them a few times. I'm just not used to them, so I feel strangely out of place.
And on top of that...
"...What am I doing?"
It was my first time being hospitalized, and it was so sudden. I had no idea what to do with myself.
Location: A hospital. A very large one in the city.
Time: A little after 2:00 PM.
Date: Three days since the completion of the Green Connect raid.
Right after the raid ended, Haru... Haru Kasuga, also known as Nozomi... had collapsed. Even though it was his avatar, the fact remained that he had slumped over. Now, I was in a Special Private Patient Room.
I had been thrown in here by force... no, absolute force. I was getting VIP treatment while undergoing days of tests with all sorts of fancy machines.
Well, that was the situation up until now. The data collection apparently finished yesterday, and today I was mostly left alone. Can I go home now? No? I guess not. I sat on my bed in hospital clothes, feeling physically fine, and waited.
Personally, I wanted to go for a walk, but...
"You're staying here. Because it's absolutely necessary."
I had a watchdog, so I didn't have much room for selfishness. Specifically, because her concern was so genuine and kind, I didn't want to act like a brat and trouble her, even though I was almost nineteen.
Still...
"I was just talking to myself. Don't worry about it. I'm bored, so at least let me do that."
"I'm taking the trouble to visit you, and you call yourself bored? You're probably the only person in the world who would say that to me, Haru."
"Wait, was this a visit? Isn't constant surveillance different from a visit?"
Beside me, in a clean, white room, was a girl who shone even brighter than her surroundings. Pure white hair and garnet eyes as clear as steady flames... the Princess.
She was the one who had used all her authority to throw me into this hospital without letting me say a word. She really goes over the top with everything. I mean, usually, you can't just secure a private room in a large hospital on the same day. The power of the White Family... Alicia White, also known as Iris... is truly terrifying.
It might even rival the power of the Sword Queen.
"..."
"Whoa, wait."
She stood up from the chair next to the bed and leaned in close. I didn't know if it was necessary, but she brought her face so close that our noses almost touched. She blinked once.
"...Your temperature is normal."
"How many times has it been now? Does it even mean anything to do it this many times?"
I asked the question every time I saw her relieved face, but I always ended up thinking, Oh well. It was definitely unnecessary, but I let her hand slide from my forehead to my cheek without a word. That was the current me.
"I thought you might be happy."
"I'm not happy about being played with."
It was a conversation we had repeated infinitely. And it continued...
"...It has meaning. The doctor told me to check your temperature regularly."
"...I wish you'd use the thermometer they gave us."
"I am using it."
"Right. You're using it for the actual checks you were told to do. So this one is extra."
"I thought you might be happy."
"You're relaxed enough to play with a patient now, aren't you? Are you that relieved?"
It was mostly a repeat of the same things.
Putting aside the fact that I had fainted... a symptom observed for the first time in the virtual world... it was a peaceful hospital life.
That day, I had definitely lost consciousness in Arcadia. A sudden collapse, a total blackout... but in the end, it seemed my real-world self had just fallen asleep.
And I wasn't the only one.
Ashe, Sora, Nia, and Tora-kichi... every player who had cleared the raid was hit with an 'Announcement of a One-Hour Sleep Requirement' right after I fell.
Apparently, a powerful, irresistible sleepiness similar to what they had experienced during the Starry Paradise events had washed over them. No one could resist the fog of sleep.
Exactly one hour later in real time, everyone woke up in their respective rooms. Including me, who had fallen to the floor first.
Seconds after I woke up, before I could even process what happened, my doorbell and phone started ringing. I could also hear someone pounding on the door with zero restraint from behind several walls.
I hurried to the entrance, and the moment I opened the door, my vision was filled with the overwhelming presence of two people... Anyway, after a lot of stuff happened, I ended up here.
That memory confusion right after the clear. The forced sleep that affected our real bodies as well as our avatars. And since I was the only one who had a clearly different kind of abnormality, it was only natural for their anxiety to double.
It was scary. The circumstances were just piling up too much.
Of course, it wasn't just me; Ashe and the others were tested too. And as for those tests...
Yotsuya Development offered to take full responsibility and cover all the costs.
One person (Sora) was contacted by her family. Two of us (Ashe and I) were contacted by our client. Nia and Tora-kichi were sent a message as players from the management. Everyone was invited to the hospital, but it wasn't exactly an apology.
It was more like they wanted to give us proof and peace of mind. Of course, they apologized for the anxiety and confusion. Especially to Nia and Tora-kichi.
In addition to the costs, they also offered a settlement that made us look twice, calling it a temporary reward for our great feat. According to Nia, the message didn't feel like they were trying to buy our silence; it felt more like they were celebrating something special. I could sense a different sender than Sora's father, Teigo Yotsuya, or our chef, Kazuharu Chitose.
Anyway, we were all still being tossed around by the situation.
We were still in the middle of confirming everything.
"Ashe."
"Mh?"
It wasn't just about the real world.
"How are things over there?"
"...Mh."
What about the changes in the virtual world?
"The same. No one knows anything yet."
"I see."
Three days ago, the day we cleared the Green Connect raid. In the middle of the frozen time, just as we fell asleep, a massive anomaly had occurred in the Starry Paradise of Arcadia.
The manifestation of Guanalizerai of the Blue Dot.
Along with the announcement of the rewards for the Green Connect clear, the virtual world was naturally in a frenzy...
No, it wasn't just the virtual world. The TV monitor in my hospital room was off, but the real world was likely in a massive uproar as well.
"..."
"..."
I was amazed at myself... at all of us. Even after going through such a terrifying experience, we could still think about Arcadia without any negativity. We should be cautious. We should think about it. That was for sure.
So, yeah. As for the discussion of whether we would return to the virtual world...
"...Aren't you bored?"
"...Mh, I'm bored."
We would start that as soon as all the test results were in.