Thinking herself a fool for asking, Lyfa’s shoulders slumped and she turned back toward the entrance of the shrine. Snow danced on the wind blowing through the darkness, but nothing else moved. There it was—the reason they couldn’t log out. Kirito, Lyfa, and Yui, sleeping on Kirito’s lap, were trapped in Jötunheimr, unable to escape to the surface. Of course, if all they wanted to do was leave the game, it was easily possible. However, this shrine was neither a safe zone nor an inn. Thus, if they were to go back to reality now, their virtual bodies here would be left essentially soulless for a period of time. Virtual bodies left unattended had the tendency to attract monsters, and their helpless bodies would be reduced to nothing, causing their «Death», in no time. They would then be returned to «Sylvian». If that happened then what would be the meaning of traveling all the way here from Sylphid territory? The purpose of this journey that Lyfa and Kirito have undertaken is to reach the central city of Alfheim: «Aarun». They had left Sylvian earlier today—yesterday evening to be exact. After passing over a vast forest area and then through a series of mine tunnels, they were ambushed by a group of Salamanders. After repelling the attack, they had met with the Sylph Lord Sakuya, were thanked, and then left, events finally calming down some time around 1:00 AM. At that point in time, Lyfa and Kirito had already been in FullDive for eight continuous hours, minus the time needed to take bathroom breaks. With Aarun nowhere in sight and truthfully a long way off, they decided to stop at the first village they came across and log off. Just at