January 28, 2023. 11:33 AM — Lustralite Quarry, Floor 9

  Silver tightened the Aegis strap as he looked out over the desolate landscape ahead. Floor 9 had nothing to envy a desert—except that instead of sand, rock stretched endlessly in every direction: gray hills, cracked walls, and blocks stacked as if Aincrad had dropped them carelessly from the sky.

  A dry wind swept between the formations, lifting fine white dust that clung to clothing like flour.

  For anyone else, this place would've been a waste of time.

  For Yuiha... it was paradise.

  —Explain it again —Silver said as he followed her down a gentle slope—. The front line is on Floor Twelve. We could be leveling with Veget and the others, or hunting steel boars on floor Ten, or training for the next raid...

  Yuiha turned toward him with a smile bright enough to erase the dullness of the landscape.

  —And you could also leave me here and go back up —she replied playfully, as if she knew perfectly well he'd never do that.

  Silver opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out. She let out a small laugh and kept walking.

  —Besides —she continued—, this place is more important than you think. Things form down here that aren't listed in any guide. Things born without intention... and that's what makes them valuable.

  Silver sighed in resignation and followed her into the open section of the quarry.

  The Floor 9 quarry was a massive natural basin made of lustralite and dolmarite, two minerals seemingly competing to see which could withstand less. Lustralite—soft, porous—eroded easily; dolmarite fractured into razor-edged shards that the wind polished over time.

  Thousands of fragments rolled slowly down the slopes, knocking into each other in an endless cycle. The sound wasn't a crunch but an irregular, delicate tic-tic, as if the quarry itself were breathing.

  Yuiha moved through the stones as if strolling through a garden.

  —Look, this is dolmarite —she said, crouching to pick up a grayish piece. She turned it between her fingers—. See the lines? It breaks in layers. Good for makeshift blades, but it doesn't last long.

  Silver grabbed another similar piece, squeezed it, and it partially crumbled in his hand.

  —And this?

  —Ventralite. The wind passes through its cracks and makes that strange sound you hear back there. It's perfect for campfires.

  —And this one? —he added, raising a rough stone.

  —Aurelite. It crumbles like chalk. Pretty, but fleeting... like some flowers on Floor Five.

  Silver stared, baffled.

  —Since when are you a geologist?

  Yuiha shrugged lightly.

  —I'm not. I just... like learning. Everything Aincrad creates has a reason. I like discovering it.

  He smiled. That answer was exactly the kind of thing that made her unique.

  After a few more minutes of walking, they reached a flat clearing. Scattered across the ground were remains of round stones—almost round. But none were perfect: every one had a crack, an angle, a ridge that ruined the illusion.

  Yuiha suddenly stopped.

  Silver recognized that look immediately: she was excited.

  She knelt so quickly her coat slipped from one shoulder, brushing aside stones with careful, almost reverent hands.

  Then they saw it.

  A lustralite stone the size of an orange—perfectly spherical, a soft white that seemed to absorb ambient light.

  No edges.

  No marks.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Impossible.

  Yuiha lifted it as if discovering a newly laid egg.

  —Silver... —she whispered—. Look... a treasure.

  Silver froze mid-step.

  —A... what?

  —A treasure —she repeated softly, as if the word were sacred—. The odds of lustralite eroding this uniformly are practically nonexistent. Zero point zero zero one five percent. Rarer than a legendary item.

  She rotated it gently between her fingers. The wind whistled around them, but for a moment it felt as if all of Aincrad had paused to watch.

  —Do you know what it means to find something like this?

  —That we've spent three hours picking up rocks and now you're going to want to find more —Silver answered with affectionate resignation.

  Yuiha looked at him... and smiled in a way he had never seen before.

  Not happy.

  Not amused.

  But thrilled to her core.

  —It means Aincrad is still alive —she said—. That even in a game trapped by death, wonders keep being born—ones no one asked for and no one expected. And that... that's worth finding.

  She stored the stone delicately in her inventory. Silver watched her in silence, feeling a warm heaviness settle in his chest.

  Not because of the stone.

  Because of her.

  Because she could still see beauty in a world that tried to kill them every day.

  He followed her up the hill without another word, knowing perfectly well he would never leave her alone here. Not today. Not ever.

  —Come on, Silver —she called, cheerful—. Treasures don't find themselves.

  He smiled.

  Because as long as she waited for him, he would always be there.

  Even picking up stones.

  * * * * *

  January 29, 2023. 3:57 PM — Lustralite Quarry, Floor 9

  The previous day, they had stayed in the quarry until an hour before sunset. Today, they had arrived at dawn.

  That morning, after long searching, they had found a ventralite sphere and a dolmarite one. Yuiha admired them as if they were the most precious items in the game.

  Silver still didn't understand her excitement, but he cherished every moment her face lit up. Each second spent turning stones felt as meaningful as leveling.

  But the hardest mission was still ahead: finding a perfectly round aurelite sphere. Aurelite broke easily; in its natural state, it almost never held a smooth shape. And among the quarry's stones, it was one of the rarest.

  —Is there another place where more of these show up? —Silver asked.

  —Aurelite?

  —Yeah.

  —No. These minerals only occur here.

  Silver stared at her as if something inside him had just snapped. He grabbed his head.

  —One hundred floors!

  ONE. HUNDRED. FLOORS.

  And the stones only appear on ONE!?

  He threw his hands toward the sky.

  —You're sick, Kayaba!

  When he finally calmed down, he found Yuiha looking at him. She wasn't laughing.

  —Don't talk about Kayaba-san like that —she said softly—. He isn't a bad person.

  Silver stared at her as if she'd just claimed the earth was flat.

  —He's... not? How can someone who created this death trap not be a deranged villain?

  —I don't understand why he did this —she answered, her voice so gentle it softened his anger—. I don't know if I'll ever know. And even if I do, I don't know if I'll be able to forgive him. But...

  She gave him a sad smile—one that nearly broke him.

  —...a person who creates a world this beautiful can't have a heart that's completely evil.

  Silver had no idea what to say. His heart screamed that this was a crucial moment. His brain, as usual, offered nothing.

  After a painful internal battle, he managed:

  —Did you... know him?

  —I participated in the closed betas and the open one. I spoke with him a few times.

  Her gaze drifted somewhere far away.

  —He said my bug reports were the best. I thought he was teasing me; I knew what QA people thought of what I did —she smiled wistfully—. But then I noticed everything I reported was fixed quickly. Shadows, reflections, lighting... everything related to "the life of the world."

  Silver stared at her, amazed.

  —Kayaba-san once told me I was the first to see Aincrad the way he dreamed it —she continued—. As a real world. Not a game.

  She finally looked at him.

  Silver begged every god of Aincrad to help him say something coherent.

  And then, something bright caught his eye.

  —Isn't that an aurelite sphere? —he said, pointing at the ground.

  Yuiha turned instantly. She ran to where he pointed, knelt, and brushed aside the stones carefully.

  —Yes! —she shouted, as if she'd won the lottery.

  She lifted the stone—perfectly round, pale, almost glowing.

  Her smile stretched as far as her face allowed.

  Silver dropped onto the stones, not caring about the discomfort. His relief had nothing to do with the sphere.

  —So... now what? —he asked.

  —Now? —she echoed, still smiling—. Now we're getting something to eat. I'm starving.