New World.
Looking at the corpse on the floor, Rowan fell into deep silence.
This situation was not right.
He had crossed worlds several times by now. Every time he opened a door, he would end up in all sorts of places and encounter all sorts of girls.
This time was no exception.
The problem was that the girl he encountered this time was not alive, but a corpse.
That was wrong.
Uh…
Just one minute ago, Rowan, who had finished all his preparations, finally pushed open the door to the new world. Then a pale-faced corpse appeared before him.
Looking at the body, Rowan began doubting life.
Because this corpse looked familiar.
Very familiar.
It felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
Chestnut-colored long hair, delicate features…
After carefully looking a few more times, Rowan suddenly understood.
Wasn't this Doujin-Na?
Ahem, no. To be precise, it should be Asuna.
Oh no, it should be Yuuki Asuna.
Huh? Huhhh?
Wasn't this person a protagonist? Why was she dead?
What was going on? What exactly had happened?
Rowan was utterly confused and had no idea what was happening.
He looked around. White walls, pink curtains, a neatly organized desk, and bedsheets covered in all kinds of fruit patterns…
No matter how he looked at it, this seemed like a girl's bedroom.
But there was a girl's corpse in this bedroom. That was terrifying.
Speaking of which, what exactly had happened for the girl from Sword Art Online to die in her own room?
That made no sense.
Rowan was very curious, so he walked over, crouched down, and patted Yuuki Asuna's face.
Since he didn't understand, he might as well ask the person herself.
Power of Yomi, yin and yang reversed, from death to life.
In an instant, Yuuki Asuna, who had not been breathing, drew a breath. Her pale complexion gradually became rosy, and her stiff corpse slowly softened.
A few seconds later, the young lady of the Yuuki family, who had been completely dead, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up from the floor.
"I… I'm not dead?"
Yuuki Asuna touched her neck. She clearly remembered that something had snapped her neck.
Even the revolving lantern of memories before death had appeared. So why was she still alive?
"No, you were already dead. I just brought you back to life."
At the same time, a voice sounded beside Yuuki Asuna's ear.
Yuuki Asuna suddenly turned her head and saw an unidentified but very good-looking man crouching behind her.
Behind him, there was an air door.
Beyond the air door stood several beautiful girls, watching her with great interest.
Uh…
What was going on?
"Who are you?"
"Me? My name is Rowan. I guess I count as a traveler." Rowan smiled and said, "By the way, you still haven't told me how you died."
"I…"
Yuuki Asuna looked at her hands, finding it unbelievable.
"I was really revived by you?"
"Genuine, no deception."
"You can actually resurrect people?" Yuuki Asuna widened her eyes, her gaze full of disbelief.
Seeing Yuuki Asuna repeat the same two lines again and again, Rowan felt somewhat speechless. But considering that she was a girl, especially a beautiful girl,
Rowan calmed himself and said, "Yes, that's right. I can indeed resurrect people. Now can you tell me why you died, Miss Yuuki Asuna?"
"You know me?" Yuuki Asuna was startled when he revealed her name in one breath.
Rowan rolled his eyes. "I can even resurrect you. Knowing your name doesn't seem that impressive, does it? Besides, aren't you missing the main point?"
"I'm asking you why you died. Who killed you?"
One had to know there was no such plot in Sword Art Online.
So this world was abnormal.
Yuuki Asuna finally noticed Rowan's displeasure. She was startled, quickly curling her body into a ball and looking at Rowan timidly.
"I… I don't know."
"Huh?" Rowan was dumbstruck.
"Your neck was twisted broken, and you don't even know who killed you?"
So she was a confused ghost. She didn't even know how she died.
"Actually… it's not that I don't know. I just don't dare confirm it." Yuuki Asuna frowned and thought hard. "I think I was killed by a yokai."
"A yokai?"
Rowan fell silent. Wasn't Sword Art Online just an ordinary world with slightly more advanced technology? Why would something as unscientific as yokai appear?
And this yokai had even killed Yuuki Asuna, the female protagonist.
Wasn't this development a little too strange?
Rowan rubbed his temples and cast farsight magic, looking at the outside world.
He nearly jumped from what he saw.
In broad daylight, under clear skies, on the streets, inside rooftops, in schools, in gloomy corners, and inside abandoned unfinished buildings, there were dense crowds of resentful spirits of all shapes and sizes everywhere.
No, what was going on? Why was this world so strange?
Rowan continued searching. His gaze swept across several nearby cities, focusing especially on high schools.
After all, the male and female leads of most Japanese anime were high school students.
Then Rowan saw Chiba Sobu High School, Toyogasaki Academy, Totsuki Academy, Seishun Academy, Kanagawa Shohoku High School, and Seirin High School.
Those were actually not much.
At most, they showed that this world was quite youthful.
After all, whether it was playing basketball or tennis, falling in love or falling in love, didn't all of that prove this world was a vibrant youth world?
But the next few schools were somewhat ridiculous.
For example, Prefectural Furuuchi High School, Private Naoetsu High School, Kōryō High School, Toudou Academy, Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School, and so on.
Natsume's Book of Friends, the Monogatari series, History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Tenjho Tenge, Jujutsu Kaisen…
Good grief. Martial artists, yokai, oddities, cursed spirits…
All kinds of demons and monsters had basically been gathered together, right?
Wasn't this world too much of a mixed stew?
Why was everything being poured into it? Did no one consider whether this world could handle it or not?
No wonder Yuuki Asuna had been killed by a yokai.
In this world where demons danced in chaos, even a protagonist's halo might not be enough.
After Rowan withdrew his gaze, he looked at Yuuki Asuna and patted her shoulder with sympathy.
"Don't doubt your judgment. Your guess was right. If nothing unexpected happened, you were indeed killed by a yokai."
"Huh?"
"How should I put it? The composition of your world is way too complicated. Good luck."
"Wait, hold on."
Seeing that Rowan seemed about to get up and leave, Yuuki Asuna no longer cared about fear. She quickly rushed forward and grabbed Rowan's hand.
"Please, explain clearly."
"Are you sure?"
Rowan slowly stood up and said earnestly, "I think there are some things you're better off not knowing."
"But I already know."
Yuuki Asuna gathered her courage and said, "And I've already died once. I don't want to die a second time without understanding anything."
"That's true."
Rowan thought about it and felt Yuuki Asuna seemed to be right. Some things were not something she could avoid just because she wanted to.
So Rowan slowly sat down again and waved to Yamato, Medea, Nero, Cosette, and the others, telling them to come in and find seats.
Medea and Yamato sat beside Rowan, Nero sat on the bed, and Cosette sat in a chair.
As for Smoothie, there was no need.
Smoothie was four meters tall, and this room was only around three meters high. She would have to bend over if she came in, which would not be comfortable at all.
So Smoothie simply sat across from the air door.
Rowan said, "Let me introduce them. These people are all my companions. This is Medea—the Medea from Greek mythology. This is Yamato, this is Cosette, and this is the tyrant Nero. Yes, the Nero from the Roman Empire."
When Rowan said that, Nero became unwilling.
"Umu, Praetor, I am not a tyrant. Even if it is you saying that, Praetor, I will still get angry."
Rowan ignored this umu monster and pointed at Smoothie on the other side of the air door.
"Charlotte Smoothie. She's too big, so she won't come over."
At that moment, Yuuki Asuna raised her right hand like an elementary school student.
Rowan rolled his eyes. "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't raise your hand. Are you a child?"
Yuuki Asuna glanced at Smoothie and slowly said, "This Smoothie you mentioned… Could she be Charlotte Smoothie, one of the Big Mom Pirates' Three Sweet Commanders, the Wring-Wring Fruit user?"
"Huh. I didn't expect a young lady like you to read manga too."
Rowan said in surprise. He was not surprised that this world had the One Piece manga. What surprised him was that Yuuki Asuna actually knew Smoothie.
Yuuki Asuna immediately retorted, "Although I haven't read that much, I still know Dragon Ball, Doraemon, One Piece, and Naruto."
Rowan nodded. "That's true. They are national-level manga, after all."
These manga were famous across the entire world. It would be stranger if Yuuki Asuna, a Japanese person, didn't know them.
Yuuki Asuna nodded, her expression strange as she looked at Smoothie.
"But I didn't expect the One Piece world to actually exist. This is way too unbelievable."
To be honest, the impact of this matter was far too great.
If it had been at any other time, Yuuki Asuna felt she definitely would not have been able to accept it.
But now…
She had even died once. Suddenly discovering that the One Piece world truly existed didn't seem quite as impossible to accept.
Speaking of which, Yuuki Asuna stared fixedly at Rowan.
"Who exactly are you? There shouldn't be anyone like you in the One Piece world, right?"