Chapter 10

Sinon sighed for a long while, and spent the same amount of time

trying to exhale the icy air out from her virtual lungs.

She slowly tried to adjust her breathing with her heartbeat, and

the green reticle of hers started to expand and shrink.

She looked right in the middle of the screen. A player was moving

through the bushes. He was holding a mini «Yatei» assault rifle, and

though other support weapons couldn't be seen, there were all sorts of

abnormal lumps on him. Perhaps he lightened his rifle to the bare

minimum, and used hi-tech optical shielding and multi-layered armor

against live rounds to fill up the capacity. Also, he was wearing a

helmet with face shield, and looked just like a giant boar. His name was

called «Shishigane», and the stats showed that he was a defensive

player who focused on VIT. Although he took part in the last finals,

Sinon didn't face him directly.

With a distance of more than 1,200m, even the anti-tank sniper

rifle «Ultima Ratio Hecate II» can't give a fatal shot through that thick

armor. Of course, it'll be different if she could hit twice consecutively,

but the enemy's no slouch. Once he's hit, he would definitely hide in the

shadows and not show up again. Until then, if she waits for him to

show up at that position, the other players who heard the first shot

would definitely gather over, and it'll be a wave of machine gun fire

swarming around her like a beehive.

As Sinon was laying prone between the large rock and the shrubs,

the trigger in her finger was silently muttering,

"…Come over here."

Once the distance between the target and her were within 800m,

she believed that she could break through the thinner part of the

armor, the face, and deal a larger amount of damage to eliminate this

player from the stage.

However, Sinon's wishes didn't come true as the guy turned away

and moved further away from her. He was careful enough to put heavy

armor on his back too, and it could be said to be that there were no

openings about him. It was a pity, but it seemed that the best choice

she had would be to give up on this prey and wait for the next enemy.

Just when Sinon was about to move her right eye away from the scope,

she found that there was a round thing on the guy's right waist.

It was a large plasma grenade, two of them. Perhaps he was using

it as another means of protection as he didn't have any support

weapons. However, in this game, those «cheap and effective tools»

would normally have some elements of danger to them. Sinon made

herself tense and narrowed her eye that was on the scope.

She moved the scope down from the guy's back to the bottom

right area, and finally aimed the crosshair at the shaking metal ball.

Inhale, exhale. She inhaled—and stopped.

As the screen of success removed all random thoughts, her body

and the hand on the sniper rifle would fuse into one for a moment, and

pinpoint into a fine circle. The girl naturally squeezed the trigger.

Then, there was an impact rushing through her body. Her eyes

were immediately dyed white because of the sparks released by the

muzzle. However, Sinon's vision immediately recovered as she looked

through the scope, and through the vision that retained its color, she

could see a grenade on the right waist of the man go 'bam', and she

turned her face away from the gun.

"Bingo."

As she muttered, a blue explosion occured in the middle of the hill

far away, and all the neighboring trees collapsed. A few seconds later,

the sound of a thunderclap came over, and she didn't need to check to

know that the guy's HP was reduced to zero.

At this moment, Sinon stood up, straightened her legs and carried

her Hecate. As the gunshot and the muzzle spark revealed her position,

the next few minutes after a snipe would be the most dangerous

moment for a sniper. She quickly scanned around and then decided on

the route she would take.

This path had shrubs all around, so she wouldn't be discovered

easily. Also, the nearby enemies should be attracted to the large

explosion of the boar guy. However, despite knowing this, Sinon didn't

stop as she continued to run for more than a minute before kneeling at

the base of a large dead tree before heaving a sigh. As she looked up,

she could see through the gaps between the thick layers of clouds, the

bloody red sun that was setting to the west.

It's been about 30 minutes ever since the Bullet of Bullets

tournament finals started.

That boar guy just now was the second one Sinon sniped and

eliminated, but the participants can't tell how many survivors were

there until the satellite did its per-15-minute scan. The girl took out the

thin «Satellite Scanner», activated it to show the map of the entire area

and silently waited for the intel to refresh itself.

The time on the left of the screen indicated that the time in the

real world was 8:30pm, and the highly detailed map showed numerous

blinking lights. There were 21 of them, and in other words, 9 people

had been eliminated. Sinon continued to stare at the screen as she tried

to check the current scenario.

The place that became the stage of this tournament was a 10km

wide isolated circular island. The north of the island was a desert, and

the south was all forests and hills. Also, there was an abandoned town

located in the middle of the island. Right now, Sinon was located at the

southern-most hills. Moving on slightly north, there was a river flowing

through, separating the hills from the forests.

Right now, there were 3 spots of lights within 1km radius. Sinon

used her fingertip to tap the names on the lights. The nearest was

«Dyne», who was moving northeast 600m away. Slightly further east

was «Pale Rider» who was chasing «Dyne». And finally, the last point of

light which was 800m from there in the rocky hills, remaining

completely still was «Lion King Richie».

Richie's equipped with the hi-firepower heavy machine gun

«Vickers». Perhaps he wanted to occupy the highest point in this area

and sweep any players that got near him. He used the same strategy

during the last tournament, and had to withdraw as he ran out of

bullets. However, he should have a counter strategy now. Either way,

she could leave this enemy that wasn't moving alone.

The problem was the lights points of «Dyne», who seemed to be

running for his life, and «Pale Rider», who was chasing after him. Dyne

wasn't just the leader of the squadron Sinon belonged to, but also a

veteran who made it into the finals of the BoB 3 times. He had an

assault rifle «SG550» with him, and specialized in mid-ranged combat.

This person wasn't really worth respecting in terms of character, but

he wasn't an enemy that's to be underestimated.

And as for the Pale Rider, who chased Dyne, was one not to be

taken lightly, to be honest, Sinon never met him before, and of course,

never fought against him. Was he really that strong? Was it that the

weapon suited the landscape? Just when Sinon felt suspicious, the

satellite in the sky seemed to be gone, and all the lights that were on

the map were flickering. The Intel would disappear in about another

10 seconds.

Sinon raised her hand in reflex, ready to count the 18 dots that

were far away. But just when her index finger was about to touch the

screen, that hand clenched into a fist. That's because she noticed that

she was looking for a certain special name.

"…Why should I even bother, with a guy like that."

Sinon muttered softly. There was no need for her to worry about

that kind of guy—whether that despicable light saber user «Kirito»

was alive or not. Right now, she should focus on the prey that's

entering the Hecate's range. If Kirito entered the range, she should just

aim, fire and end his life immediately without any feelings.

The flickering lights finally disappeared silently. Sinon placed the

terminal back into her pouch and again ran through the forest.

Below her was a gradual hill, and opposite it was a lush forest.

Right now, Dyne and Pale Rider were in a deep part of the forest,

moving from Sinon's right to her left. Both of them should be aiming

for the river that split the area in half and the bridge that spreads

across the river. The cautious Dyne must be trying to avoid a high risk

forest battle and chose to fight on a bridge where the range of vision

was great to take on the pursuing Pale Rider.

Sinon was closer to the bridge than them. If she ran off now, she

should be able to reach a sniping position first. She wanted to watch

their battle from there and snipe the victor once his guard is down.

Readying the Hecate on her right shoulder, Sinon lowered her

body and ran through the forest again.

The girl managed to pass through the red tea-colored hilly region

safely, and a deep red band of reflected light swooped into Sinon's

vision, as she swooped under the final bush there.

It was a river. Flowing out from the southern hills, it grandly

snaked its way through the middle of the entire map as it headed

towards the north before disappearing into her clouded view of the

distant ruins of that abandoned city, far away.

On the opposite side of the river was a forest that had lots of old

trees, and slightly below the trees, she could see a meandering rocky

path. The path reached the river 200m north of where Sinon was

sneaking, and links to a simple metal bridge. At this moment, those two

players should be running down the path—

Her intuition seemed to be correct since, a figure came running

out from the shadows of the large old trees that's growing on the way

between the path and the metal bridge. Sinon hurriedly readied the

Hecate on the floor and brought her eyes over before she even lined

her eyes on the rip-up cover of the scope.

That body was wearing a woodland patterned clothing, and his

chin could be seen from below his helmet. Also, the SIG assault rifle

confirmed that this was Dyne. He ran smoothly down the path like a

veteran, and after leaving the forest for a few seconds. He quickly ran

50m down the metal bridge, over to the side where Sinon was hiding

and immediately got down on the floor, proning.

"…I see"

Sinon muttered with some respect. In this situation, he could

attack the enemy who wants to ran across the metal bridge. However,

he was still too careless. To an enemy who may be hiding on the

riverside, he showed his back in a completely defenseless manner.

"You have to watch your back no matter when it is, Dyne."

Sinon muttered as the crosshairs lined itself and caught that

somewhat rough-looking face. Now she could take direct action

without even waiting for Dyne and Pale Rider to fight. Though Pale

Rider would notice Sinon's existence, he had to cross the bridge if he

wanted to force his way. Sinon was only 200m away from the metal

bridge, and even if the enemy ran with all he got, she had the

confidence that it'll be a sure-kill hit.

—Of course, I'll just be sorry to those who were watching live from

the gallery.

Sinon thought as she silently placed her finger on the Hecate's

trigger, but at the next moment…

There was an icy chill behind her.

There was also someone behind her.

—Idiot! I forgot to watch my back because I was focused on sniping!

As Sinon was screaming this in her head, she quickly moved her

right hand away from the Hecate. She turned 180 degrees like her body

was a spring and used her left hand to pull out her support weapon,

the «MP7» sub-machine gun. While doing all that, her mind lets out

flashes of interrupted thoughts.

—But how could there be anyone behind me? There was only Lion

King Richie when I checked the «Satellite Scanner» a few minutes ago,

wasn't it? That guy can't have possibly ran down the mountain. And I

can't possibly not notice the enemy's footsteps if he ran in with a heavy

machine gun. Speaking of which, it's practically impossible for any enemy

other than Richie to get behind me in such a short time. What's going

on—who is it—

Even though she was really surprised, Sinon reached the MP7

right behind her, and placed the black muzzle right in front of her. Of

course, she wasn't paying that much attention to things; she couldn't

believe that someone gotten the jump on her.

Right now, she couldn't dodge this assault. They would soon use

up all their bullets in their magazines to reduce each other's HP—Sinon

got ready to squeeze the trigger after preparing herself for this.

But just when she was about to pull the trigger and fire the

bullet…

The attacker muttered softly as he raised his right hand, looking

like he wanted to stop Sinon,

"Wait!"

"Uehh…!?"

Sinon widened her eyes and turned to look from the muzzle to the

enemy's face.

She immediately saw that long waist-length glamorous black hair,

and the white tender skin even when under the sunset, and the long

narrow eyes that were sparkling.

Her arch-enemy Kirito seemed to be half-sprawled on Sinon,

wielding the FiveSeven pistol with his left hand and aiming at her.

After realizing the current situation, Sinon's heart had several

feelings combining together to form a flame. She forgot the muzzle in

front of her eyes and subconsciously gritted her teeth, giving a

malicious look and intending to fire the MP7 in her left hand.

But Kirito again said with a cool voice that made Sinon stop

exerting the force on her fingers.

"Hold on. I have a proposal."

"…What's there to propose in this situation…"

Sinon argued back with a soft voice that was filled with killing

intent.

"What's there to propose and compromise in this situation!?

We're only waiting to see who dies first!"

"I could have shot first if I wanted to shoot!"

Kirito's words were abnormally tense, causing Sinon to shut up. It

felt that there was something more troubling to him than this faceoff at

gunpoint.

And though she wasn't happy about it, what Kirito said was right.

If he could get near easily, he could have back-stabbed her by firing

bullets or using the lightsaber.

"…"

Facing Sinon, who was forced to remain silent, Kirito again

continued to speak softly,

"I don't want us to attack each other here and let the other two

hear gunshots."

Kirito's eyes immediately turned to look behind Sinon, at the

metal bridge where another battle was about to begin.

"Uehh…? What do you mean…"

"I want to watch that battle on the bridge until they decide the

winner. Before that, please don't take action."

"…Watch? And what do you intend to do after that? Are you going

to say something stupid like, let's start attacking each other after that?"

"We have to watch the situation…but I should be leaving then, so I

won't attack you."

"But I may snipe you from behind, you know?"

"That can't be helped. Please understand. It's starting!"

As Kirito anxiously turned to look at the metal bridge, he actually

put the FiveSeven in his left hand down. Even though the enemy was

pointing the submachine-gun right in the middle of his forehead, he

still placed the handgun back into his holster.

Though she was angry, Sinon felt that it couldn't be helped, and

her shoulders relaxed just like that.

If she exerted a little more force on the finger that's on the trigger,

the 24 4.6mm MP7 bullets could shoot out all of Kirito's HP. However,

Sinon had already viewed Kirito as her biggest enemy, so she was

really unwilling to end her fight against him in such a half-effort

manner.

If it's Kirito, maybe he can dodge the Hecate's snipe without even a

trajectory, Sinon had already planned for this and thought of all the

ways she could use to fight him head on. If they had to fight, of course

she would hope for Kirito and herself to be the last two standing

amongst the 30 players and then fight an intense deathmatch that

would use all their heart and soul.

"…Will you fight me properly if we do this over?"

"Yeah."

Kirito nodded his head, and Sinon puts down her submachine gun

after watching his eyes for half a second. She knew that it wouldn't be

likely, but to prevent Kirito from suddenly attacking her, she still didn't

move her finger away from the trigger. However, Kirito himself

immediately relaxed his entire body and proned himself in the bush

beside Sinon. He took out mini-binoculars from his belt pouch and

started watching this battle.

This attitude of not even paying attention to consider her a

potential threat at all made her angry and reluctant at the same time.

Why must this guy watch someone else fight? Speaking of which, when

did he appear? There wasn't Kirito's name within 1km around her

when she checked the «Satellite Scanner» a few minutes ago.

However, Sinon still swallowed her doubts back in and placed the

MP7 on her left waist. She then carried the Hecate with both hands and

used the scope to watch the two people who were fighting.

On the long metal bridge, Sinon could still see Dyne in a prone

position near her. The SG550 that was stuck on his face wasn't moving

at all, and this uninterrupted concentration of his showed that he

wasn't someone to be underestimated. Of course, the Pale Rider who

forced Dyne into such a tough situation couldn't possibly appear easily

from the forest across from him.

"…The battle you're so looking forward to may not happen."

Sinon muttered at Kirito, who was beside her, in a mocking

manner.

"Dyne won't remain proned there forever. Once that guy gets

ready to move, I'll snipe him first."

"In that case, you can take action…no, hang on."

Kirito's answer was tense out of a sudden. Sinon moved her eye

away from the scope on reflex and turned to look at the metal bridge

with her naked eyes.

At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared from the path that's

deep within the thick forest.

It was a tall and skinny player, wearing mysterious blue and

white camouflage clothing. Since he had a black helmet on, they

couldn't see his face. That person was armed with only the light

«ArmaLite AR 17» shotgun. This guy should be—no, he's definitely the

«Pale Rider» who was chasing Dyne.

Dyne, who was lying on the other side of the bridge, immediately

went tense on this shoulders, and this abnormal atmosphere spread to

Sinon who was far away. In contrast, she couldn't feel any pressure

from Pale Rider's standing position. He didn't seem to be scared of that

SIG in Dyne's hands as he merely crossed the bridge easily.

"…That guy's strong…"

Sinon couldn't help but say that, and beside her, Kirito suddenly

moved his body slightly. Sinon glanced at him for a while and found

that the side-face that looked just like a girl was giving of a very tense

presence. In other words, Kirito was watching that Pale Rider? Even

though it was Sinon's first time seeing this certain player's name and

appearance, his actions showed that he did possess a certain amount of

ability.

Thus GGO had the «Bullet Line» assist prediction ability that that

couldn't be possible in real life, it's not easy getting near an enemy with

a fully-automatic machine gun. Normally speaking, there would be an

obstacle for the person to hide behind to run from one cover to

another cover, using the lateral movements to close in on the enemy.

However, Pale Rider merely stepped onto the metal bridge in a

defenseless manner casually. There was nothing, no landscape or

objects to block the bullets. Even Dyne, who escaped to create this

situation could only remain prone on the floor, and a slight doubt could

be seen on his back.

However, Dyne was a leader of a squadron for quite some time, so

his experience made him abandon his inner doubt. A second later, his

SG550 assault rifle fired with the sturdy sound that fit a Swiss machine,

and immediately spread throughout the river surface.

However, Pale Rider himself dodged those numerous 5.5mm

bullets that were fired over in a manner Sinon didn't expect. He

actually ran to a cable that was supporting the bridge and used the left

hand to climb up. Dyne hurriedly tried to aim the gun at him, but it's

tough for a person in a prone position to aim at an enemy above; as he

missed the second shooting, Pale Rider himself used the recoil of the

ropes to jump onto the bridge at a position that's rather near Dyne.

"A STR type, using light equipment and boasting 3-dimensional

mobility…his skills' points are rather high too."

As Sinon muttered, Dyne got up to show that he wouldn't be

tricked a second time and squeezed the trigger for the third time.

However, this attack of his was anticipated by Pale Rider. Thus there

was a little gap in the firing line and the ground, that blue and white

profile immediately rushed in without falling by using his left hand to

support the ground and doing a barrel roll forward. He was only 20cm

away from Dyne when he got up.

"Damn you…!"

Dyne let out the familiar cursing and tried to quickly change the

30-bullet magazine that was empty. However…

The ArmaLite in Pale Rider's right hand let out a silent flash.

Under such a distance, the bullets of a shotgun couldn't miss

completely. Dyne immediately fell backwards as the special effects

lighting spread all over him. But remarkably, he didn't stop as he

reloaded and got ready to put his gun at this face—however, there was

a second gunshot.

Pale Rider again got near and shot for the second time to cause

Dyne to lose his balance. This was the terrifying part about this

weapon called the shotgun; It causes a high delay beside ordinary

damage, allowing people to be continuously attacked helplessly.

—There was no need to bring the SIG to the face, as the muzzle

flash that's aimed while holding from the waist would be extremely

powerful.

However, Sinon's thoughts couldn't spread to Dyne's brain, and it

was too late. Pale Rider continued to close in and slowly reloaded the

AR17 before squeezing the trigger right in front of Dyne for the 3rd

time. The 12 gauge shell exploded, releasing a rain of bullets and

bringing Dyne's remaining HP to zero.

Dyne, who was on the floor lifelessly, had the large word [Dead]

in red on him as it slowly spun. Now he's eliminated from the finals. He

wouldn't be able to log out during this time as it was to prevent players

from exchanging information in the real world. This «corpse» could

only watch the live broadcast in his conscious state until the match

ends.

"That blue guy's really amazing…"

Beside her, Kirito said with a soft voice. Sinon was subconsciously

about to nod her head in response, and immediately pricked her

eyebrows on hearing what he said next,

"…Is that guy…one of the guys we talked about on the list…?"

Sinon felt extremely suspicious, but immediately remembered

that «Pale Rider» was one of the three numbers Kirito was worried

about. In other words, Pale Rider could be that target, both of them

tried to kill each other in that VRMMO game Kirito played before, and

that game's name was—no, maybe it's that one that became infamous…

At this moment, Sinon forced herself to stop thinking.

Kirito should have his own problems too, but those were his own

problems. Nobody else had a way, not should they bear responsibility

for it.

Sinon seemed like she wanted to shake off this little doubt and

turned off the safe of the Hecate before saying softly and simply,

"I'm going to snipe that guy."

Without waiting for Kirito's response, she placed her finger on the

trigger. After Pale Rider eliminated Dyne with an exciting attack, he left

the bridge and was ready to head north. Sinon's crosshair immediately

caught sight of his skinny back, and considered the wind direction and

distance before readying herself.

At this moment, Kirito finally answered with a hoarse voice,

"Ahh…I understand. But, if he's that guy…"

—So what if it's that guy? You're telling me that in less than 300m

with his back turned, he could dodge my sniping specialty the «first shot

without a bullet line»?

"…Stop joking around."

Sinon merely moved her lips to answer Kirito and fired the

trigger without hesitation—

But at this moment…

Sinon saw an unbelievable sight in her scope.

A little bullet exited the right shoulder of Pale Rider's blue and

white camouflage, and this tall and skinny guy was knocked to the right

like he was knocked aside from the bullet that hit him.

""Ahh…!""

Sinon and Kirito, who was watching the scene with his binoculars

from the left, shouted out at the same time.

Though surprised, Sinon still focused on her hearing instinctively.

Of course, this was to check the gunshot that sniped Pale Rider, where

it came from and the sound quality. However…

No matter how Sinon pricked her ears, all she could hear was the

dry wind and the water flowing in the river.

"…Did I miss it…?"

Sinon muttered, and Kirito, who seemed to be thinking about that,

silently responded,

"No, I didn't hear anything as well. What's going on…?"

"The only thing I can think of…is that it was a laser rifle that lets

out a very soft sound…or a live weapon with a suppressor. However…"

"Wh..what?…?"

Sinon glanced aside and stared at the puzzled Kirito, thinking how

much stuff must she teach him and started explaining.

"It's a muffler. An equipment that's placed in front of a gunbarrel

to suppress the sound of gunfire."

"So, so it's a silencer…"

"You can call that. Anyway, a sniper rifle that's equipped with this

can suppress the sound of gunfire to a certain extent. But this thing will

affect accuracy, shooting range, and is rather expensive."

"I see…"

Kirito nodded his head as his eyes glanced slightly at the tip of

Sinon's Hecate II. The front of the gunbarrel was merely a muzzle

brake, and even an amateur like Kirito knew that that wasn't a

suppressor. Sinon added on before the other party wanted to say

something,

"This wasn't to save money, but because those things don't fit my

style."

Fuun.

She snorted and again looked through the scope. Pale Rider, who

collapsed on the floor, didn't look like he was about to get up, but that

wasn't a fatal blow. If it was, there would be a red 'dead' tag on him

that's like Dyne, who was slightly far away from him. He's alive, so why

didn't he run away or fight back—

Also, there were other doubts as well. 10 minutes ago, on the map

of the «Satellite Scan», Sinon checked that there wasn't anyone else

within 1km. In other words, the mysterious sniper shot Pale Rider

from a rather far distance. But in that case, the enemy would be using a

rather large caliber to snipe him. In GGO, the larger the gunbarrel, the

weaker the effect of the suppressor, and the accuracy and shooting

range would be even more affected. However, there was no gunshot

heard just now, and she couldn't understand why.

As she was thinking, Sinon suddenly remembered that she was

wondering about the same thing about that player who was right

beside her, and felt that it was time to ask this. She turned around and

said softly,

"…Speaking of which, Kirito, where did you appear from? You

weren't around these hills 10 minutes ago on the satellite scan."

"Eh…? I was tailing that guy Pale Rider from about 500m away, so

it should show up on the screen…no, ahh, I got it."

"What is it?"

"Speaking of which, I should have been wading in the river 10

minutes ago. Maybe it's because I was hiding underwater that the

satellite didn't discover me…"

—YOU, YOU SWAM THROUGH THE RIVER!?

Sinon tried her best to hold back her voice, and didn't shout out.

It's known that the rivers and lakes in this game weren't some

forbidden zone, and they won't die if they dropped inside. However,

the HP will continue to drop in the water, and the player won't be able

to swim at will due to the weight of the equipment on the body. It's

practically impossible for any player to swim over that wide river

except for those frogmen-type players with the breathing equipment.

"How, how did you do that…?"

After she finally raised this question with much difficulty, Kirito

himself simply shrugged his shoulder and answered,

"Of course I removed all my equipment for the time being. All

VRMMO that uses the specs of «The Seed» can remove their equipment

in their personal window back into the item box. There's no need to

carry it, right?"

"…"

Perhaps this would be a suitable example to describe someone

who was so shocked that she couldn't make a response. Forget about

swimming, the boldness of even removing all the weapons and armor

in the middle of a battlefield was extremely unbelievable.

"…People would definitely be happy to see your character in

underwear like that."

"Arre, isn't the live telecast only showing the battle scenes?"

Seeing Kirito give that don-try-and-fool-me line, Sinon merely

snorted coldly and answered,

"…Anyway, so the «Satellite Scanner» can't catch people who are

underwater. I'll remember that. But, the Pale Rider you swam through

the river just to trail was strong, but not some outstanding player. He's

unable to get up after getting hit by a bullet, looks like he's…"

Just when Sinon was about to say 'not going to survive', she was

interrupted by Kirito, who again raised his binoculars.

"No…I don't think he was so scared that he was unable to get

up…look at him, isn't there some strange light effect on his avatar…?"

"Eh…"

Sinon hurriedly increased the range of her scope. Though it was

hard to tell as the sunset was too strong, the blue and white

camouflage of the Pale Rider did have blueish-sparks all over him.

Sinon did see that effect before, and that was—

"An…an electric stun bullet…!?"

"Wha, what's that?"

"Like the name, it's a unique bullet that would cause high voltage

of electricity once it hits a target. But it needs a rather large caliber rifle

to load it, and even a single bullet's very expensive, so they're barely

ever used in PvP. That's a bullet that's used when a party hunts a large

Mob"

In fact, as Sinon was explaining, the sparks that immobilized Pale

Rider started to turn pale. A few more seconds, and the effect would

disappear. His HP shouldn't wear down because of that, but now she

really didn't know why the enemy would do such a difficult snipe—

"—!"

Sinon couldn't tell whether that little tremor was from her or

from Kirito beside her.

200m north from where both of them were hidden was that large

metal bridge that extends to both east and west. On the west side of the

bridge was Dyne, who was dead. Pale Rider was knocked down by a

stun bullet that came from the forest on the east side, and was now 5m

north from him. However, he was about ready to get up.

Right between the bodies of Pale Rider and Dyne, a black profile came

out from a shadow of a supporting metal pillar.

On first glance, that didn't look like a person (player). The avatar

was completely covered with a mysterious presence. After trying her

best to look at it, Sinon finally understood the reason why she couldn't

see him. That person was covered with a grey hooded mantle, and that

hood was fluttering irregularly like some little thin material because of

the wind. That was a Gille Suit a sniper wears. No, it should be called a

«Gille Mantle». But—

"…Since when was he waiting there…"

Sinon subconsciously muttered. That mantle guy should be the

one who shot Pale Rider. However, since when did he move out of the

forest and cross the bridge? Even if he had a Gille Mantle that had

outstanding camouflage ability, he would definitely be discovered if he

moved on the metal bridge without anyone noticing. Or did he swim

through the river like Kirito? But if that happened, she definitely never

saw him summon a window and control his equipped figure.

But at the next moment, the next stunning revelation that shook

all of Sinon's doubts aside occurred.

The tattered mantle moved forward, and then revealed the main

weapon that was hidden under the body in his right hand.

"—«Silent Assasin»."

She let out a panting like voice.

It was a large sniper rifle that was about as long as the Hecate.

Though the gun itself was slimmer than the Hecate, the several bolt

holes that passes through the mechanisms, the highly-advanced grip

that had a thumb handle and the dark-grey gun body that was polished

all gave a bone-chilling feeling. However, the most unique specialty

about it was the large suppressor that's attached to the tip of the gun

barrel. No, it wasn't right to call it installed, but rather, it was a sniper

rifle that was designed with the intention to use the suppressor.

Its actual name was «Accuracy International L115A3», and it

used .338 inch Lapua Magnum bullets. Though the firepower was far

inferior to the .50BMG the Hecate II, but the L115 wasn't an anti-tank

sniper gun. One can tell from the fact that this was originally equipped

with a silencer that it was created to snipe humans. As the largest

range was more than 2,000m, those who were shot by the bullet

couldn't see the shooter, and couldn't hear the gunshot before dying.

Thus, people gave it a nickname—the «Silent Assassin».

Sinon did hear of this terrifying sniper gun in GGO, but she had

never actually seen it before. Speaking of which, she never heard of a

sniper who could work on his own other than herself. However, that

tattered mantle was able to shoot from deep within the forest across

the river and shoot Pale Rider. It's impossible to accomplish such a

shot without enough skill, concentration, control and heartbeat.

—Who is that guy?

Sinon instinctively checked the watch on her left hand. It's now

8.40pm. There's still 5 minutes before the third «Satellite Scan», and in

this situation, things just feel extremely long.

The mysterious mantle in her scope gave a deathly presence as he

strapped the L115 on his right shoulder. Sinon widened her eyes to see

if there was any tag or affiliated squadron, but there wasn't anything

out of the ordinary other than the muzzle and the dark-grey hood. As

Sinon watched on, the tattered mantle seemed to glide as he walked

towards the Pale Rider who fell onto the floor.

Pale Rider, who was able to take down Dyne seemingly without a

scratch, was a player who did give off a strong presence. Sinon never

heard of his name before, but in the north mainland that was far away,

he should be famous like that «Behemoth» who used that minigun.

However, when seeing both of them like this, the existence of the

tattered mantle was more shocking. When she got her Hecate for the

first time, Sinon once took down a large boss monster-like monster

alone, and the tattered mantle gave Sinon the chills that was larger that

monster—no, it gave more chills than that monster.

But as she realized the ability of the tattered mantle, Sinon had a

question she just couldn't understand.

Even though he had such a rare gun and highly-skilled sniper

technique, why did he use a stun bullet instead of real bullets? Pale

Rider was lightly equipped, so a .338 Laqua should have a chance to kill

him if it was the head or the heart. However, this tactic is

understandable if he wanted to numb someone before sniping

someone more accurately. However, the tattered mantle player

showed up from the forest away shooting the first stun bullet and

walked towards Pale Rider which had lots of HP, revealing his own

position. Wouldn't that highly difficult snipe be completely

meaningless.

The anxiety that came with being unable to predict the enemy's

intent made Sinon bite her lips.

Speaking of which, Kirito, who was beside her, went quiet. Even

though Sinon wanted to check the situation with him, she hesitated

over whether she should turn her eyes away from the tattered mantle,

and could only look through the scope of the Hecate.

The tattered mantle guy moved in front of Pale Rider and reached

his right hand into the hood while carrying the L115. Is he going to

finish off with his support weapon? Sinon thought. Even a mini-assault

rifle can wear Pale Rider's HP to zero at such a close range—

"…Eh…"

But Sinon again lets out a shocked voice.

What the mantle took out was a handgun. As the shadows caused

by the sunset were too great and that it was immediately covered by

the body, Sinon couldn't tell what sort of gun it was, but the silhouette

was enough to indicate that it was an ordinary automatic pistol.

A shot from a handgun wouldn't cause less damage than an

assault rifle, but even after pressing the trigger for consecutive times, it

couldn't fire automatically, and will need lots of time before it can

deplete an enemy's HP. Right now, Pale Rider was lying on the floor,

and was about to recover from his numbness. Once he could move, he'll

definitely fire the shotgun in his right hand. At that time, the one who

would be dead would be this tattered mantle.

Even so, this mysterious player was just standing there, waiting

for the night wind to blow his Gille mantle. There wasn't any sense of

anxiety or wavering in him. He continued to point his right hand at

Pale Rider, who was lying on the floor, and then raised his hand out

from the mantle. That hand wasn't holding anything. It's unknown

what the mantle guy was about to do as he placed his left finger on the

forehead of his hood. Then, he moved to the chest, and finally, left and

right.

This action was the so-called Cross-sign—was he planning to

pray for an enemy who's about to be dead? But he shouldn't have much

time left to this this. Does he think that he could dodge the shotgun at

such a close distance? Or rather, was he a cocky person who just got

lucky in getting a rare gun…?

The unnecessary questions made Sinon bite her lips anxiously.

Suddenly, a soft voice came in to her left ear.

"…Hurry up and fire, Sinon."

It was Kirito's voice. This short sentence had a sense of urgency

she never felt before. Sinon couldn't help but ask,

"Eh? Shoot who?"

"Shoot that mantle guy!! Please, just shoot! Shoot before that guy

takes action!!"

That abnormally anxious voice actually caused Sinon to exert

force on her right index finger which was on the trigger of the Hecate.

Sinon would normally grumble about it, but right now, she aimed her

crosshair on the back of that mantle. She predicted the wind direction

and humidity through the surrounding dust effect and slightly adjusted

her angle. As she exerted force on the finger that's on the trigger, the

green bullet trajectory immediately covered the enemy.

Logically, Sinon should wait for the winner to be decided between

both of them. If she attacked the mantle down, the Pale Rider will

recover from his numbness and definitely escape into the bushes on

the left, and Sinon wouldn't have the chance to snipe him.

But even after knowing that, Sinon didn't release the strength

that's exerted on the finger. For some reason, she had a feeling that she

had to hit no matter what. She stopped her breathing, letting the

imaginary cold air stop in her chest. That icy feeling could make her

heart calm down. *Bekun*…*bekun*…just when the reticle shrank and

the pulse moved as it gathered in a small circle—

A gunshot.

The large muzzled brake let out a large flame that looked like a

fire dragon.

There was only 300m between her and the target, so she couldn't

miss. Sinon could even see an illusion where that avatar had a large

hole there.

—However,

In fact, the moment Sinon squeezed the trigger, the upper body of

the mantle player bent backwards like a phantom that didn't

materialize. The sure-kill bullet grazed past his chest and opened a

huge hole further away.

"Wha…"

Sinon was unable to say anything and had a uncertain feeling. She

found that he turned his head towards her location, and faced her from

deep under the mantle. That heinous face did give a smile, and Sinon

subconsciously gasped.

"Tha…that guy, he knew that we were here…right from the

beginning…"

"How is it possible…! He never looked at us once before!"

On hearing Kirito's similarly shocked voice, Sinon shook her head

slightly and said,

"It's impossible to dodge this without seeing the bullet line. In

other words, he started noticing me from a certain time and checked

through the system…"

As she said this, her right hand automatically loaded the next

round into the Hecate. Sinon again got ready to snipe, but started to

hesitate. Facing this enemy who had such a response speed, there's a

99% chance that this bullet line will be dodged. She could fire all the 4

bullets in her magazine, but if she used them all, it'll be easy for the

enemy to counterattack. What should I do…what should I do.

The mantle guy brought his body back forward as if he saw

Sinon's short hesitation.

He again lined the automatic pistol in his right hand at Pale Rider,

and flicked the hammer with his thumb. His left hand was supporting

beside the grip, and then he calmly squeezed the trigger.

A flash appeared. After a few seconds, Sinon could hear a dry

gunshot in her ears.

"Ahh…!"

Kirito groaned, seemingly afraid of something.

Of course, the bullet hit the center of Pale Rider. It was a physical

damage, but anyone in this world wouldn't be dead from a 9mm bullet

round immediately no matter which part he's hit in. Also, Pale Rider

should have at least 90% of his HP. But for some reason, the mantle

guy stopped attacking. He just kept his hands on his gun and stood

there. He knew that Sinon was aiming at him, but never had the

intention to look for cover. He probably had the belief that he could

dodge any bullet.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds—

At that moment, the stun bullet effect that immobilized Pale Rider

finally vanished.

The guy who was dressed in the blue and white camouflage suit

then jumped up and quickly raised that AR17 shotgun with

breathtaking speed and placed it at the chest of the mantle guy. That

was definitely zero distance, and all the pellets could enter the heart of

the mantle guy. Its power was different from a handgun, and the

mantle guy could be killed in one hit.

Sinon and Kirito, that was laying beside her, and the audience in

the entire GGO world and real world who were watching this live

telecast should be watching this with their eyes widened.

The counterattack gunshot—was never heard.

What replaced it was the slight sound of a heavy object landing. It

was the AR17 in Pale Rider's right hand dropping on the deep teacolored sandy ground.

Then, Pale Rider knelt down like his joints were destroyed like a

puppet and tilted right slowly before lying completely on the floor.

From Sinon's position, she could see the lips under the helmet of

Pale Rider. He opened his mouth, seemingly making a silent cry and

also looked like he was desperately gasping for air.

He suddenly raised his left hand in a rather weak motion,

grabbing the center of his chest. And at the next moment—

The body that was wearing blue and white camouflage seemed to

be surrounded by light that looked like static and suddenly

disappeared.

Finally, what was left of him was a little line of light displaying

[DISCONNECTION], but soon it faded into the sunset and

disappeared."…What, was that?"

A few seconds later, Sinon finally managed to say these words.

The mantle player merely fired a handgun at Pale Rider. At this

moment, Pale Rider should have some HP left. Then, Pale Rider was

released from his stunned state and got ready to fight back with the

shotgun. But just when he was about to fire, the circuits went faulty

unfortunately, kicking him out from the game.

If there was a need to explain what just happened before her eyes,

this would be the most logical explanation.

But how did it end up disconnected with such perfect timing? And,

more than being lucky, that mantle guy who nearly got a huge reversal

seemed to know that this disconnection would happen. No, rather than

that—

It felt like he was able to kick Pale Rider out from the game

through his own will.

That was impossible. It's impossible to interference with other

players network connection from within the game.

However, the mantle guy didn't seem to be shocked by Pale

Rider's disappearance at all as he merely kept his left hand back into

the mantle. Then, he again raised the handgun in his right hand and

pointed it to a certain point. Sinon immediately knew what that was.

That was the video camera that was showing the live broadcast of the

tournament. The tournament set up a light-colored thing in the sky to

show the player that he was being filmed. In other words, that was a

declaration of victory to all the audience. However, what was he

declaring? Just now, the battle he had with pale Rider was a forfeit

because of a network failure, so it wasn't a manner that's worth

bragging. Or—was the disappearance just now the real victory to the

mantle guy? In other words…

"That guy…can disconnect the other players from the server…?"

Sinon muttered with a hoarse voice.

And beside her, Kirito seemed to be daydreaming as he answered,

"Wrong…that's not it. It's not just an ordinary power."

"What's ordinary? That's a huge problem! How can he use such a

cheating method? What is the operating company Zasukaa doing…"

"WRONG!"

Kirito suddenly grabbed Sinon's left shoulder tightly. Sinon

wanted to shake him off instinctively, but the following words made

the girl freeze.

"That guy didn't kick the player out from the server. He killed him.

That Pale Rider just now…that real life player controlling Pale Rider is

dead!!"

"…You…"

What are you saying?

Sinon was about to say that, but what Kirito said next made Sinon

swallow her words again.

"So I'm right. That guy…that guy's «Death gun»—«Death Gun»!"

Sinon heard of this name before. After the vague knowledge

floated up from deep within her memories of knowledge, she then said.

"…Death…Gun. Is it about that weird rumor…? That someone shot

the winner of the last tournament «Zekushiido», and «Usujio Tarako»

who got a high ranking position, in a pub on the streets and the plaza,

and they never logged in again afterwards…"

"That's right…"

Kirito nodded his head and then looked at Sinon's face. Those

large and black eyes had a strong impact and fear in them that Sinon

had never seen before. Also, he was shaking because of a certain

feeling.

"I felt…that it wasn't possible. Yesterday, while waiting at the

dome, I met him and still continued to deny this possibility. But I have

no need to doubt it anymore…that guy really used a certain way to kill

players in the real world. In fact, the corpses of «Zekushiido» and

«Usujio Tarako» were discovered recently…"

"…"

—How did you know about this? Who are you? What's your

relationship with that mantle guy…?

Before she was shocked by the fact that «Death Gun» really

existed. Sinon's heart was already confused by this person called Kirito,

and this made her really unable to catch what was going on.

Of course, Sinon still couldn't believe this honestly. Killing

someone in the real world from a game? That's too far-fetched…and

wouldn't this be paradoxical? If things inside the game affected the

lives in the real world, that wouldn't be a game anymore. However, on

seeing Kirito give a serious expression, voice and gaze that didn't look

like what a virtual avatar could make, she just felt that she couldn't

laugh this off. Who—who exactly in the world are you…

Sinon's mind was all confused and could only remain silent. At

this moment, Kirito, who maintained a sharp gaze as he continued,

finally managed to turn his eyes away from her to the metal bridge, and

Sinon looked over too as if she was led by him.

The mysterious mantle guy who made Pale Rider «log out» put

the handgun that was aimed at the camera down and turned to look at

Dyne who was in the south. Dyne, who had the [dead] tag on his

abdomen, was still logged in, but unable to talk, and unable to make

any expression, so nobody could tell what sort of thoughts he had

about the strange battle that went on beside him.

The mantle guy placed his handgun back into the holster,

strapped up his L115 back on his shoulder with a shyari sound, and

started walking to Dyne. Was he going to attack this «corpse» of Dyne?

Sinon couldn't help but gasp on thinking about this, and Kirito seemed

to be thinking the same thing as his slender body twitched slightly,

looking like he was about to rush out from the woods.

But perhaps Dyne—was lucky as the mantle guy didn't take out

his automatic pistol, but walked past Dyne and moved onto the metal

bridge. He didn't cross it, but disappeared behind the thick big pillar

like how he appeared. He should be walking on the slightly shallow

river. Though they couldn't see him now, that position can only lead

him north or south down the river. If she start to move now, she would

definitely see him again—…

"…Still hasn't appeared yet…"

Kirito muttered. Sinon still nodded her head. Even after 10

seconds, the mantle guy hasn't showed up. This means that he was still

hiding in the shadows behind the bridge. It seemed like he was wary

about Sinon's sniper rifle.

At this moment, a slightly ringing vibration could be felt from the

left wrist, and Sinon then checked her watch. 8.44pm 50 seconds.

There was 10 seconds left before the 3rd «Satellite Scanner». Sinon

pulled the device out from her waist pouch and watched the screen.

"Kirito, watch the bridge. I'll use this chance to check that guy's

name."

"Got it."

On hearing his immediate reply, Sinon waited for the map to

refresh itself. There's still 3 seconds…2, 1, the scan started. The spy

satellite of the galactic war age flew through the sky, and scanned

through the entire surface without letting a single spot slip by. Its

electronic eye could easily read through mini cover. There was no

other way to hide except by hiding in a cave or swimming into the

water like Kirito.

*PaPaPaPaa*.... After a few beats, new flashing lights appeared on

the screen. Lion King Richie was still camping on the peak of the hill far

south. He wouldn't be able to get down the hill before the tournament

ends.

About 800m north of him, the two blinking spots hiding between

the forest and the hills were Kirito and Sinon. To the players who were

far away from them, they would definitely think that they were fighting

at close range. They shouldn't be able to expect that they were pushed

side by side, hiding in the bushes. Of course, Sinon was praying that the

other players wouldn't know that.

And 200m north, there was a rather light glow, showing Dyne,

who was dead. A little north, and it would be Pale Rider's light spot, but

the map didn't show it. And at the east side of Dyne, the light spot of

that mantle guy under the bridge was—

"Eh… Not-not there?"

Sinon said with surprise as she stared hard at the high definition

screen.

But no matter how she continued to look, the surroundings of the

metal bridge only showed Dyne's light spot. The mantle guy had

already moved somewhere else. But if he moved up the river, she

should be able to notice it. Sinon then panicked as she wondered what

was going on, but immediately started thinking again.

There was only one possibility she could think of. He used the

same method as Kirito and swam underwater to avoid the satellite

scanner. In that case, that means…

"…There's a chance."

On hearing Sinon mutter, Kirito frowned. Sinon glanced at him

and then quickly explained the entire situation.

"That mantle guy didn't appear on the screen, so he's definitely

hiding at the bottom of the river. In that case, he should have removed

all his equipment. Even if he wants to get up the river, it'll take at least

10 seconds for him to summon his window and fully equip himself. We

just need to attack him…"

"What if it's just a handgun? He should be able to move if he's

carrying such light arms, right?"

Before she even finished, Kirito raised the same doubt. Sinon

could only reply reluctantly,

"I've never tried this before, but if the STR and VIT values are high

enough, it should be…but even so, we should be able to overpower

someone with a handgun easily…"

"NO!"

Kirito suddenly stopped suppressing his voice and shouted,

forcefully grabbing Sinon's left hand.

"You just saw it, right? That guy's black handgun made Pale Rider

disappear! It may be real death if you're hit!"

Sinon couldn't look away from the glowing black eyes of Kirito.

She forced herself not to look away, shook her head, and answered,

"…But I still can't believe that there will be real death resulting

from being shot in a game….Uun, or rather, if this were real, that

mantle guy could kill anyone on his own will, right? How is that

possible…I really can't believe it. How can such a person exist in

GGO…in a VRMMO…"

That's right. Even in the wilderness of «Gun Gale Online», where

killing intent was everywhere, it was still «a kind world» to

Sinon/Shino.

This world didn't have any real evil intent or killing intent. The

reason why they replaced communication with bullets and smoke was

simply because they wanted to surpass their peers, to be stronger than

anyone else. In this world, no matter how much they shot or how many

bullets they take, they wouldn't lose a single drop of blood. Also, they

would definitely not feel any pain, injury or any real damages. Thus,

even though they would feel remorse over losing a battle, they

wouldn't behold any grudges with the enemy. Like the tough battle

before. Sinon's entire left leg was blown away by the minigun of that

Behemoth, and the Behemoth was shot through by Sinon's Hecate. But

after that battle, Sinon was just left with self-confidence, reflection and

the respect to that strong Behemoth. She believed that the Behemoth

would feel the same about her.

It's because of that that Sinon decided on this GGO world, a

cushioning mechanism that protected her from that weak her in the

real world and that terrifying memory. She believed that if she

continued to fight here, the confidence she built in the virtual world

would one day surpass that grudge that anguished her so much in the

real world.

There couldn't be any real malice in a VRMMO, or else it wouldn't

be a virtual world. Wouldn't it become the dark reality Sinon always

feared and was running from…

"I…really couldn't believe that there was really a VRMMO player

who would really kill someone besides PKing."

On hearing Sinon murmur—

Kirito answered with a thoroughly pained voice,

"But they really exist. That mantle guy…«Death Gun», he used to

kill a lot of people in that VRMMO I was in before. Even after knowing

that the enemy would really die, he still swung his sword. It was like

how he shot Pale Rider just now, and…I…"

At this moment, Kirito stopped talking, looked down and let go of

Sinon's hand.

However, by piecing together those heavy words and the

conversation she had with Kirito before, it was easy to tell what he

didn't say.

Three years ago—at the end of AD 2022, «that incident» shook all

of Japan. Even Sinon, who didn't have any interest in VRMMO at that

time was rather clear about this incident because of the daily long

reports the media gave. There were more than 10,000 young people

who were held captive in the virtual world; and two years later, the

people who were released and returned back to the real world was

about 6,000. In other words, 4,000 lives were gone because of this

incident.

Undoubtedly, Kirito must be one of the «survivors» of that world.

And if he wasn't lying, «Death Gun» should be the same as him. No,

that's not it. There was an even more terrifying truth behind Kirito's

confession.

Those who died in that game basically died in the real world.

«Death Gun» knew that they would die and killed many players on his

own will. He was «the player who really killed someone in a VRMMO»

Sinon said.

That guy in GGO…at this moment, he was in the field of the «3rd

BoB finals», and even took the lives of players in the real world

through an unknown mean. That should be what Kirito was saying.

Sinon finally managed to get something out from her confused

thoughts, and immediately felt her body chill.

Her vision started to become dark from the center. There seemed

to be something watching her from the darkness. That look—that

lifeless, weak and seemingly sticky swamp-like stare was…

"…-non. Sinon!"

Suddenly, Sinon heard someone calling her name, causing her to

wake up forcefully. Behind the black shadow that was moving away,

Kirito was looking worriedly. On seeing that pure and bewitching

beautiful looks of his, the girl felt annoyed that it went against the

norm, causing her phobia to be suppressed.

Sinon sighed lightly and answered,

"…Don't worry, I was just a little shocked. To be honest…I really

couldn't believe your words straight away…but I don't get the feeling

that this is all a lie or a fabricated story."

"Thanks. That's enough."

Kirito nodded his head slightly. At the same time, the light spots

on the device in Sinon's right hand flickered. The satellite in the sky

above was about to leave. Sinon hurriedly switched the map over to

the whole field and started counting the number of dots. Right now,

there were 17 dots of lights, which meant that there were 11 dead dim

lights, 28 altogether."The numbers don't match after all…"

There were really 30 people at the start. Subtracting off the

disappeared Pale Rider who disconnected, there was still one person.

That should be the «Death Gun» who went underwater to avoid the

scan. No, maybe he wasn't just waiting silently underwater, but moving

around. However, it was hard to tell whether he intended to move to or

away from the two of them. If he were approaching, he could

immediately come out from the water on the east side of the bushes

Sinon and Kirito were hiding at and launch his attack forcefully…

As Sinon thought about that, all the lights on the screen

disappeared. Now, they could only search for the enemy with their five

senses for the next 15 minutes.

Sinon glanced to the east slightly, but couldn't find any movement.

The mantle guy should have moved on from the bottom of the river to

the north. Though his main weapon L115A3 «Silent Assassin» was a

terrifying weapon, it was a hand-operated sniper rifle like the Hecate II,

so it wasn't suited for mid to close ranged combat. Most likely, he

wouldn't force his attack, but pull away to hide his own location.

Thinking till here, Sinon exhaled and muttered,

"We have to get out of here first…those far away will think that

both of us were fighting and will come over to collect the earnings of a

fishmonger."

"…You're right…"

Kirito instantly looked down at the ground, but immediately

turned to Sinon and said,

"If I had told you to find an absolutely safe hiding place until the

tournament ended…you wouldn't listen, would you?"

"OF…OF COURSE NOT!"

Sinon immediately shouted back with her loudest voice.

"How could I do such a stupid thing that the «Camper Richie»

would do! Besides, there's no absolutely safe place on this island. There

are caves in the northern deserts where the satellite can't read through,

but I'll definitely die if someone throws a grenade in."

"…I got it. Then, let's split up here."

"Eh…"

These unexpected words finally caused Sinon to be unable to say

anything. She blinked for a few seconds and finally said with a calm

voice,

"The-Then what you intend to do?"

"Me, I want to…continue chasing after that «Death Gun». Can't let

him use that gun to shoot anyone. And…if I faced him head on, I'll

definitely remember that guy's old name. In that case…"

At this moment, the shiny lips of Kirito were tightly shut. He took

a deep breath and faced Sinon straight in the face.

"…Sinon, please get away from that mantle guy. I'll abide by your

promise. I'll fight with all I've got when we meet somewhere on this

island…Just now, thanks for not shooting at me and listening to what I

said."

After nodding his head, the black-clothed lightsaber wielder

slipped out from the bushes.

"Ah…wait…"

Just when Sinon was about to instinctively call him, he landed on

the deep-tea-colored ground and got up and walked towards the metal

bridge in the north without turning back.

After staring at that slender figure that was gradually leaving for

a moment, Sinon forcefully closed her eyes.

"…."

The air that was forcefully inhaled was exhaled hard with a silent

'that's enough!', and Sinon immediately got up from the woods. The

shrubs that were wrecked by her violent action had their leaves

scattered before disappearing.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

The girl shouted loudly, and the person who was 20m away

stopped just like that. She immediately grabbed the Hecate and carried

it on her right shoulder before running to Kirito. No matter if the other

person gave such a completely surprised look, Sinon glared

somewhere else and said,

"…I'm coming with you too."

"Eh…?"

"You intend to fight against «Death Gun», right? That guy's an

expert even without that gun. How can you keep your promise if you

lose before you face me? I'm not really willing, but we should work

together to chase that guy out of this island…and the tournament finals

of this BoB."

After saying out all the words that ran through her mind, Sinon

glanced at Kirito. In the end, though that lightsaber wielder frowned,

his lips curled up, looked rather strange. Kirito struggled for a while,

seemingly still worried about Sinon's safety, then shook that black hair

and said,

"No…you just saw that battle too, right? That guy's really

dangerous. Once you're hit, your body in the real world may be…"

"We don't know where «Death Gun» ran off to, it's dangerous

whether I'm with you or not. Speaking of which, a rookie like you who

would continue to run away without even noticing your surroundings

in an open space has no right to worry about me!"

"…Well, what you said made sense…"

Kirito again hesitated for a few seconds, but finally released the

tension on his shoulders and nodded his head—right before waving his

right hand at lightning like speed. As Sinon noticed that the light saber

that was drawn out from his waist, the blue and purple energy blade

appeared from the handle in Kirito's hand.

Ah, is this guy going to attack me now to fulfill his promise? Sinon

couldn't help but stop breathing, but Kirito then looked west. Sinon

looked at where he was looking at, and at that moment, about 100m

away, under the shadow of a large rock, there were a few red lines

appearing at them—the bullet line trajectory that bullets were aimed

at.

The unknown enemy's fully-automatic machine gun roared, and

Kirito's light saber left several afterimages as it knocked down all the

bullets in this bullet storm that didn't leave any openings to escape.

Sinon was stunned by this scene before her that she had never seen

before in GGO, and could only stand there like a piece of wood, but

after a second, she immediately recovered her thinking ability and got

down. She released the Hecate in mid-air, and as she laid down in a

prone position, she readied the stand on the ground.

At this point, they could confirm that the enemy was using a

completely automatic machine gun, but the scope didn't show the Gille

mantle of the «Death Gun». The enemy had a mysterious openedhelmet with a top, and the right eye had an eyepiece to correct the aim.

Sinon remembered that she met this person before. He was a gunner

who took part in the last tournament, called «Xiahou Dun». The

weapon in his hand was a «Norinco CQ». Though this was a veteran

with amazing skill, he was in a shocked state that his sturdy chin was

unable to move up. It couldn't be helped that he had such a reaction, as

the one magazine of bullets he fired was deflected by the lightsaber, a

weapon anyone thought would be just for show.

"Impossible~!"

Xiahou Dun's stern ancient Chinese general-like face that had a

beard let out a voice that didn't fit the times and then hid back into the

shadows of the rock. Kirito lowered his head, glanced at Sinon,

shrugged his shoulders and said,

"We'll take care of that guy. I'll rush in. You'll be in charge of

covering fire."

"…I understand."

Now things just got interesting. What will happen next?

Though Sinon had this thought, she still set her cheek against the

wooden stock of her beloved gun.