Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"So this is the virtual world..."

Ashe dipped his hand into the sea water, smelled and tasted it. Surprisingly, it tasted a little sweet.

Looking down, the sea surface was very blurry and he couldn't see his own reflection clearly.

Examining his attire, he found himself wearing the same dark windbreaker as his character illustration, looking quite stylish.

"It's just like how the virtual world is described in the textbooks."

Since there was no one else around, Sonya also spoke up openly: "This must be the Sea of Knowledge, also known as the Silver Sea, the Primordial Sea... Regardless of whether one is a genius or mediocre, a legendary Six-Winged Archon or a single-winged mage, their first stop upon entering the virtual world is undoubtedly this ocean."

"The only difference is this." Sonya knocked on the small boat, looking around and noticing a book symbol on the bow and a sword symbol on the stern.

"The textbooks say that mages should arrive here naked..."

"Naked?" Ashe glanced at Sonya's black halter dress.

Sonya immediately blushed and instinctively covered her chest: "Our appearances in the virtual world are projections of our consciousness. 'Naked' means we can't bring in external objects from reality... I've heard that people initially arrive in the virtual world swimming naked in the sea, so it's impossible to have a boat!"

"I see!" Ashe suddenly clapped his hands.

"See what?"

"This boat must be your true form, you're just a soul illusion!"

"What?" Sonya was taken aback.

"Your consciousness has split into two parts. One part is your dense soul, materialized into this small boat for you to sail; the other part is your agile intellect, taking your current form. The soul is the boat, the mind is the person. The boat carries the person sailing towards the other shore, that must be it!" Ashe asserted confidently.

It did sound somewhat reasonable, but...

"How do you prove it?" Sonya asked.

Without thinking, Ashe said: "If you don't believe me, jump into the sea and try. If I'm right, you won't be able to leave this boat!"

No sooner said than done, Sonya directly leapt into the sea with a splash. Fortunately with the dream trial experience, although Sonya had never learned to swim, she at least knew some water skills and wouldn't sink like a rock.

Soon Sonya flipped back onto the boat and harrumphed coldly: "You're wrong, I can leave the boat. This boat is definitely not a manifestation of my soul..."

She was a little smug at personally proving the observer's words wrong, but when she turned to look, she realized the observer was watching her.

Although his appearance was still obscured by the dimness, Sonya could fully sense his gaze. She looked down and saw that her clothes were soaked by the seawater, clinging wetly to her body and outlining her graceful curves.

"You--" Sonya was so angry she directly raised her wooden sword, disregarding the difference in their strengths, and immediately summoned her vibration sword spirit to slash at him. Ashe quickly retreated and surrendered: "Wait wait, where did you get that wooden sword?"

Huh?

Sonya looked at the wooden sword in her hand. She remembered not having any weapon earlier. But when she saw how irritating the observer was, she instinctively wanted to beat him with a wooden sword...

"You see, when you wanted a wooden sword, it appeared. Clearly this boat also manifested because you didn't want to swim," Ashe spread his hands. "I was just testing earlier, and this proves the boat is indeed a manifestation of will."

"Was that peeping also part of your test? No, the wooden sword is the weapon I'm most familiar with, so I can easily manifest it, just like how I manifested clothes!"

"Don't falsely accuse me, I was openly and uprightly looking! There was no peeping involved!"

After this little interlude, the unfamiliarity and fear from first arriving in the virtual world dissipated.

Moreover, having someone to accompany felt reassuring, like having someone to take the fall whenever anything happened. Both of them felt a sense of stability.

"And there's no need to elaborate on the fourth path, you simply don't have the capital to trade with others."

"In summary," the swordswoman was too lazy to argue with Ashe, "searching the virtual world for wild spirits is your only way to obtain a spirit."

Ashe: "Then how do I go to the virtual world?"

Swordswoman: "The only way to enter the virtual world is triggering the Truth Gate within a spirit, letting your consciousness directly cross over to the virtual world."

Ashe blinked.

"So what you mean is, to go to the virtual world, I first need to have a spirit?"

"Precisely."

"And my purpose for going to the virtual world is to find a spirit?"

"Well said."

"Wait wait wait..."

Ashe clutched his forehead and retreated.

"Isn't this just like the plight of a new college grad discovering that all job postings require 3 years of experience?! I can't go to the virtual world without a spirit, but I need to go to the virtual world to find a spirit. Isn't this an endless loop?"

"Who told you that you need your own spirit to go to the virtual world?"

"Huh?"

The swordswoman pointed at herself: "Did you forget? I already have a vibration sword spirit. I'm qualified to enter the virtual world. Observer, you've formed a soul bond with me through the Manual, even sharing experience. Bringing you along to the virtual world is easy."

There's this function too? Ashe instinctively opened the Sorcerer's Handbook and wanted to reread his talents, but discovered a new module had appeared in the game somehow:

"Virtual World Expedition": Organize operator teams to explore the virtual world.

However, when Ashe clicked "Virtual World Expedition", selected 'Apocalypse Observer' and 'Death Maniac Swordswoman' to act together, and clicked "Ready", nothing changed in reality -- because 'Death Maniac Swordswoman' was still "Preparing".

"I'm already ready, hurry up and confirm too." Ashe urged.

"I'll go back and prepare, you can slowly wait."

Ashe was baffled: "What do you still need to prepare?"

"Lots, lots, a virgin like you wouldn't understand."

Watching the swordswoman curl her lips in a mocking smile and disappear into the air, Ashe could only lie in bed and wait. Perhaps the regeneration treatment drained too much strength, or perhaps the night was overly boring without a phone to scroll, Ashe soon felt drowsy and closed his eyes.

When he woke up again, he saw the swordswoman sitting with him in the same boat, floating on an ocean shrouded in white fog.

On the small boat in the Sea of Knowledge, Ashe suddenly recalled something and silently tried to summon the light screen.

He both failed and succeeded -- he failed because although he summoned the light screen, most functions became ineffective, the virtual world indeed didn't support external plugins; but he succeeded because the Sorcerer's Handbook could still run.

He opened the Handbook's "Virtual World Expedition", and suddenly a map popped up on the light screen, with a message:

"You have entered virtual world expedition mode, please read the beginner's guide..."

On the other side, Sonya noticed Ashe wasn't speaking, so she also focused her mind on the virtual world. She bent over and used her hands to stir the seawater, trying to propel the small boat forward.

"Wait, don't rush and move around randomly, swordswoman. Let me handle it."