Holding Asuna's hand, Yuu passed through the crystal gate. The first thing he checked was his system panel.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, host received reward: Expert-Level Tennis]
Apparently, doing this spontaneously earned quite a few points.
Thinking so, Yuu felt the small hand in his palm slip away like a mischievous little fish.
Turning, Asuna hid her hands behind her back, raising her fair chin and looking around, pretending to be curious as she said:
"So this is the Land of Love… It really feels full of romantic vibes."
Her gaze kept wandering, but she avoided looking at him. The faint red flush on her fair neck looked as tempting as a strawberry-filled daifuku.
"Heh, yeah."
Chuckling softly, Yuu didn't mind and also observed this special dungeon—the Land of Love.
More precisely, they now stood outside a city gate, on a dirt path surrounded by forest.
Behind them was the still-intact crystal gate, surrounded only by trees, dense green foliage stretching endlessly, and deeper within, boundless darkness. Only the path to the city gate was bright and straight.
It was as if it hinted they shouldn't linger—keep moving, and the Flower of Love would bloom automatically ahead, leaving no desire to turn back and explore.
But Yuu thought it might just be that the designers hadn't fully fleshed out this dungeon scene, and for convenience, they'd slapped on a few background layers.
If he threw a knife, it might hit an invisible air wall marking the scene's boundary.
He wasn't bored enough to test that, though, and instead shifted his gaze to the city gate ahead.
The towering stone wall, made of white bricks, didn't enclose the inner city in a square or circle but curved far to both sides, with the gate at its peak.
From above, the city would likely be heart-shaped—the gate alone was a giant pink heart, and with the unique name of this land, it wasn't hard to imagine the architectural style here.
"I suddenly don't want to enter this city…"
Asuna brushed her hair, grumbling as if intimidated by the giant heart.
"Agreed, let's just head back. Bring Grandma Martha here and let her pick her own flower."
Saying that, Yuu turned to leave.
Asuna immediately grabbed his collar, giving him an innocent, sweet smile:
"After coming all this way, you're trying to run?"
Then, without waiting for his reply, the girl suddenly exerted surprising strength, dragging him toward the city gate like a piece of trash.
The gate guards were dressed normally, no different from NPCs in the Starting City, which slightly relieved the two players who still had normal aesthetic tastes.
Since Asuna was still dragging a lazily unresisting Yuu, she greeted the guards first.
She smiled politely: "Hello, we're adventurers from afar. Our visit this time is to—"
Before she could finish, the two guards drew their weapons, their sword tips pointing forward at her with cold expressions.
"Show your entry ticket, or you'll be expelled!"
"…"
Asuna's smile froze, her face quickly darkening, a murderous aura surging as her empty hand reached for her waist.
Before she could grab her sword's hilt, Yuu slipped the crystal card forward, raised his hand, and called out:
"The entry ticket's here."
The guard glanced at it, not bothering to check if it was fake, and merely pointed his sword tip at a side door.
"Enter through there. Welcome to the Land of Love, young couple."
"C-couple?!"
Asuna, who'd been glaring at them with an annoyed expression, froze again. Her gaze drifted, her ears faintly reddening.
It was the first time she'd been called that so directly.
Though she knew it was just a game and she and the guy had no real relationship, the thought that others saw them as that kind of couple made her heart race slightly.
For some reason, it felt a bit embarrassing…
"Besides, we're wearing rings now. It seems having the ticket alone isn't enough—you need couple status to enter the city."
Yuu patted her shoulder, then turned to the guard: "I want to ask about how to get the Flower of Love."
"Go to the civil registry office; you'll find the information you need there," the guard replied concisely, not shifting his gaze.
"Got it."
With that, Yuu stepped toward the normal, roughly two-meter-tall side door beside the heart-shaped city gate.
"Tch—" Sticking out her tongue and making a face at the guards, Asuna quickly followed, muttering complaints: "What's with that attitude, pointing swords at the slightest thing? The security here's worse than in the Starting City…"
"Don't expect too much from NPCs."
"Grandma Martha's an NPC too!"
"It's just a matter of intelligence levels. Think of them as automated response programs."
"Fine… By the way, I thought they'd open the big city gate and let us enter grandly."
"Then wouldn't the heart split in two? That'd ruin the country's honor."
"Eh? So that's why…"
"Maybe not, I was just talking nonsense."
"…"
Annoyed, Asuna lightly kicked Yuu's calf.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Land of Love.
Its decor resembled 19th-century Venice, with neatly arranged houses and streets, interwoven with canals. Enthusiastic merchants' shouts filled the streets and narrow alleys, giving it a livelier feel than the Starting City.
Hearts were, of course, the main theme. Heart-shaped statues and items were everywhere. Occasionally, heart-shaped balloons floated slowly into the blue sky, as if something worth celebrating happened every moment.
"What a weird place…"
Her mindset fully shifted to tourist mode, Asuna looked around curiously, ready to go into full sightseeing mode and storm every shop to browse.
To prevent Asuna from wandering off, Yuu grabbed her wrist. This time, it was his turn to drag her toward the civil registry office on the map.
"Don't keep looking around. We'll explore after getting the new mission."
"I know~ I don't have much playtime today anyway…"
Sighing resignedly, Asuna glanced at her wrist, firmly held by him, and suddenly remembered something.
The basic description stated that if a female player was harassed by a male player, a system window would pop up with the warning:
But whether because the prison hadn't been built yet or because couple status automatically disabled harassment reporting—despite Yuu grabbing her wrist without consent, no such warning window appeared.
So, if Yuu suddenly had bad intentions, Asuna, unable to attack in a safe zone, would just have to let him do whatever he wanted…?
Asuna couldn't help swallowing hard, once again worried about her honor.
But she also knew it was just her paranoia—his reactions from their in-game marriage until now proved that her virtual husband might genuinely have no interest in her.
Thinking of this, an inexplicable sense of loss and irritation surfaced, sparking a slight resentment.
—Don't get it wrong, it's just her wounded pride as a woman.
She even hoped this guy would keep acting like a gentleman!