Chapter 11

"They haven't really caught onii-chan on camera—"

Lyfa said as she shook her blond pigtail that had a slight green

tinge to it, and beside her, Silica was moving the cat ears that came out

from her light brown hair to respond to her.

"That's really unexpected...I thought Kirito-san would definitely

go in and show all his skills."

"No no no. Don't think of him like that. That guy's really

calculative. Maybe he's hiding somewhere and waiting for the number

of participants to drop before coming up."

Klein, who was in the bar counter at the corner of the room, said

casually. Asuna, who was sitting at the center of the room with Lyfa

and Silica, gave a wry smile on hearing this.

"Kirito-kun couldn't possibly do such a thing...I think.."

Asuna said softly. At that moment, the small pixie that was sitting

on Asuna's left shoulder started to flap her membrane thin wings. This

was the AI Yui, who was Asuna's and Kirito's «daughter».

"That's right. Papa would definitely move behind the enemy at a

speed the camera couldn't even catch and launch a quick attack!"

On hearing that logical conclusion from Yui, Lisbeth who was

sitting to the left started laughing,

"Ahaha, that's rather possible too. Also, he's using a sword instead

of a gun in a game full of gun weaponry."

At that moment, everyone imagined Kirito's situation, and then

the room was filled with hearty laughter. The small dragon 'Pina' was

curled up on Silica's lap.

It had been a long time since these six people and a pixie gathered

together, and right now, they weren't in the real world, but the VRMMO

RPG «ALfheim Online» everyone had joined. The vast virtual world

inside ALO contained a giant «World Tree» on the map, and there was

even a city in the sky called the «Yggdrasil City». Kirito and Asuna

rented a room together in a corner of that city, and this became the

gathering place tonight.

As expected of a room that cost 2,000 Yurudo monthly, the inside

was rather vast. The wooden floor was polished brightly, and a sofa set

was placed at the middle of the room. There was also a private bar

counter against the wall. There were numerous wine bottles on the

shelves, they were found amongst the pile of goods Klein obtained in

the virtual world from the lands of the 9 different spirits and the

underground Jötunheimr. It's said that there's a fantastical item that

'wouldn't make anyone drunk and yet tastes better than a 30-year-old

Scotts Whiskey'. Of course, the under aged Asuna still couldn't

understand the value of these wines.

The south side of the room was an entire wall of glass, and

normally, this would allow for a wonderful view of the Yggdrasil city.

But today, they couldn't enjoy the night scenery of this city. That's

because that glass wall could also become a large screen which was

airing the scene from another world. That was—the network TV «MMO

Stream» telecasting the live view of the «3rd Bullet of Bullets»

tournament in «Gun Gale Online».

The main aim for today's gathering was to cheer for Kirito, who

went to take part in this tournament without saying anything, and also

critique his behavior outside. Unfortunately, their ally, the axe warrior

Agil wasn't here as the café bar he was running in the real world was at

its busiest. Even so, Asuna herself wasn't at home, but logged in from

the 2nd floor of his shop «Dicey Café». This was to allow her to catch

Kirito who was in the middle of the city somewhere and lecture him

good.

"But why did that Kirito move his avatar from ALO to GGO just to

participate in the tournament?"

Lisbeth was holding a glass cup that was full of jade-colored grape

wine as she said that with a puzzled tone. On her left, Lyfa then shot

Asuna a look. Right now, only Asuna, Lyfa and Yui knew that Kirito

received a request by a friend in ALO, the Undine water mage

«Chrysheight»—actually, the person controlling the avatar was an

officer of the 'Virtual Division', Kikuoka Seijirou—to investigate GGO.

From the way Lyfa gave the 'I'll leave it to you' look, Asuna pondered

for a while before answering,

"Well...it seemed that he received some strange job. I heard that

he had to investigate some VRMMO, or rather, the current state of «The

Seed Nexus». GGO is the only game with a «Money Trading System», so

it was chosen to be investigated."

These were exactly the words that Kirito had said, but Asuna

didn't think that this was the truth. Of course, she didn't feel that Kirito

would lie to her, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding something

crucial from her. A few days ago, after they finished their date and

were about to head home, Kirito explained the reason why he had to

switch games, and at that moment, Asuna could tell from Kirito's

expression, tone, and attitude that there was something going on.

At that time, she told herself not to ask too many questions as

there must be a certain reason why Kirito couldn't say it out. Also,

Asuna believed that the reason would definitely not betray her trust.

Thus, Asuna merely said 'do your best' before watching Kirito

leave. Right now, she could only hang out with a few good friends, wait

in a distant world, and watch the live telecast—

But she couldn't deny that she had been feeling extremely anxious

for some reason during the past few days.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Kirito, but a rather vague

premonition. Something was about to happen, no, it really will happen.

It was like that maze area in Aincrad in the past, being surrounded by a

large number of monsters outside the search range as they gradually

move in—

Asuna's voice and expression shouldn't have revealed her worry,

but as her good friend, Lisbeth could have felt that something wasn't

right through her sixth sense as she nodded with an ambiguous

expression.

"I see...working. That guy is a person who can immediately get

used to any game and is rather suited for this kind of work..."

"But there's no need to take part in a PvP tournament out of a

sudden, right? If it were just investigation work, he should be talking

on the streets to other players."

On hearing Klein, who was waiting at the wall, ask this question,

the four of them, including Asuna and Lyfa felt puzzled too. A while

later, Silica then stuttered and said,

"Maybe he...intends to earn a large amount of money by winning

this tournament and test the money trading system? I once heard that

the minimum exchange rate was rather high..."

On hearing these words, Yui, who was on Asuna's shoulder,

immediately quipped,

"The official website didn't have any records, but according to

news on other websites, the lowest exchange value is 100,000 points in

GGO, and the exchange rate to yen is 100 to 1, so it can be exchanged

for 1,000 yen. The operating company seemed like they would be

sending the added value digital money over to the players log-in email.

The prize for winning this tournament is 3 million points, and so it

would be 30,000 yen in exchange."

Yui said that rather simply, but that was the outcome she had

after searching through the vast network database. Her search ability

and detailed accuracy of information was something even «search

experts» could never match up to. It's no wonder that Kirito would

often ask her to do his assignment reports, and actually, Asuna and the

rest would occasionally do that.

"Thank you,Yui-chan."

Asuna patted the pixie's head with her finger and pondered as she

said,

"It seems like the money trading system isn't really

complicated...we also send encrypted digital money over through email. Kirito-kun shouldn't have to investigate it personally..."

"Maybe he got lured by the 30k prize money."

On hearing Klein make such a direct remark, everyone gave a wry

smile. Lisbeth immediately shot him a 'Kirito's not like you' and

continued on normally.

"But in terms of a large PvP tournament, it's normally impossible

to come up on a top ranking position through hiding somewhere. I

remember ALO had this sort of tournament, and if they hide in the

same place, there will be some sort of searching magic that will be

automatically activated and doesn't allow them to hide, right?"

"...And to be honest, onii-chan's personality wouldn't allow him to

do that. If he hears someone fighting, he couldn't possibly be patient

enough to wait around and hide at a certain spot."

As expected of Lyfa who lived with Kirito for a long time, her

words were really convincing. Everyone felt that Kirito really was this

sort of person.

As they were thinking, on the large screen that should be about

300 inches wide, there were many live telecasts flashing through. As it

was a shooter game, they would normally record the live telecast from

somewhere behind the player. As the camera follows the player, the

bottom of the screen would show the name of the player. However, the

screen that was divided into 16 different telecasts never showed

'Kirito's name'. The camera would normally show people fighting, and

they knew that during the 30 minutes up till now, Kirito hadn't fought

yet.

Did he become cautious after moving from a world full of swords

and magic into an unfamiliar world of guns? But the Kirito she knew

was someone who would accept a challenge no matter the

circumstances. Like what Lyfa said, it's rare to take part in such a large

scale tournament, so it's impossible for him to not meet any other

players during the 30 minutes and hide. If he went off to fight against

the hot favorite of the tournament and got beaten splendidly—that

would fit his personality, but the participant list on the right side of the

screen showed that Kirito's status was 'Alive'.

"...Which means that there's a more important objective than

being heavily involved in the tournament?"

As Asuna muttered, the center of the 16 screens displayed a battle

that was at its climax.

The main player involved was called 'Dyne'. He readied a machine

gun on the end of a red rusted metal bridge and continued to fire.

However, the enemy who was dressed in blue and white clothing easily

leaped onto the bridge like a Cait Sith before closing in on him. Then,

the enemy fired the large gun that those criminals in Hollywood

movies would use and finished off Dyne.

At this moment, Lisbeth seemed to be watching the same image,

and she whistled.

"Wow, that person's really amazing. Looks like GGO's rather

interesting too. I don't know if I can create my own guns..."

Like how she was in SAO, Lisbeth's avatar was a Leprechaun

blacksmith. This sounded just like her, causing Asuna to chuckle,

"Hey hey, don't you even think of moving to GGO. There's still

many levels of New Aincrad to explore!"

"That's right, Liz-san! They're opening an update above level 20!"

Even Silica, who was next to Lyfa, spoke up to stop her. Lisbeth

could only raise her hands and surrender.

"I got it, I got it. I'm just thinking that 'there's such strong people

no matter what kind of game it is~' . That blue guy just now should be

one of the favorites for this tournament..."

Just as she said that, the «blue guy» in the same screen actually

collapsed.

The cameras immediately focused on this blue player who

collapsed onto the floor. There was also the name 'Pale Rider' there.

Though he collapsed, he didn't look like he was dead. At this

moment, a slight spark seemed to climb out from the bullet hole in his

right shoulder. It seemed like the player's action was sealed.

"It's just like the wind magic «Lightning Curtain Seal»..."

On hearing the Sylph mage fighter Lyfa say this, the Salamander

swordsman Klein immediately shook that red hair that was made

upright by the low-quality headband, and said,

"I hate those things the most. And besides, that tracking ability's

too good already, isn't it!"

"You hate all sorts of weakening spells! Increase your anti-magic

ability a bit, will you?"

"Fuun, who cares about you. A warrior like me won't choose a

skill with the word 'magic'. I won't choose it even if you kill me!"

"I say, many warriors in old RPGs were warriors who knew black

magic!"

Asuna could only give a wry smile as she watched Klein and

Lisbeth quarrel. She reached her right hand out and towards that

image that was worth noticing before expanding it out with two fingers.

The image of Pale Rider on the floor immediately became bigger as the

other images were pushed to the side.

It's been more than 10 seconds ever since he was suddenly

numbed, but there wasn't anyone who appeared in the camera. They

could only see tea-colored earth, the metal bridge, the river that flows

below and the forest on the far opposite side that was blurred by the

dust—

*PAM!*

This sound that suddenly rang caused the 5 people to jerk in

shock. At this moment, a black cloth entered the camera screen from

the left. The camera then panned backwards, and the new character

finally appeared on the last screen.

"...Phantom...?"

Was that hoarse voice from Lisbeth, Silica—or Asuna herself?

It was a guy with dark-grey tattered mantle that danced with the

wind. The inside of the head was completely covered by the shadow,

which made it hard to tell. They could only see two will-o-wisp like red

eyes deep inside. This looked way too similar to the phantom-type

monsters that everyone had trouble with in the past at Aincrad.

Asuna blinked and then again looked at the screen. Of course, the

person standing there wasn't a phantom, but a player who was taking

part in the tournament. This tattered mantle guy should be the one

who used an electric bullet to immobilize Pale Rider. ALO had mage

fighters who use many binding spells from long range to seal the

enemy and finish off the enemy from close range. This was a rather

popular ability skillset in a game.

The tattered mantle guy seemed to confirm Asuna's thoughts as

he reached his right hand into his mantle near his chest and then

pulled out a blackgun. However, if that was the main weapon that's

able to deal damage to the enemy, it's a little...what...

"...Too painful, isn't it?"

At the corner of the room, Klein seemed to be feeling the same

way and raised his doubt. He rubbed the moustache on his chin, and

said

"Either way, the sniper rifle on his shoulder just looks way more

powerful. Wouldn't finishing off the enemy with that gun be easier..."

"Maybe bullets are expensive? Isn't ALO like this? There's a lot of

catalysts that are required for a large spell."

As everyone considered what Lyfa said, the mantle guy flicked the

hammer behind the blackgun and pointed the gun at Pale Rider, who

was still on the floor.

However, he seemed to be taunting the enemy—or the audience's

mood as he still hasn't squeezed the trigger. He raised his left hand,

doing something unexpected. It pointed his thumb at his forehead,

chest, left shoulder and right shoulder in order.

At this moment—

Asuna felt a little numbness deep inside her mind.

It wasn't just some special hand sign. It was merely an ordinary

«Cross». Besides seeing this in Western movies, there were many

professional healer-type players in VRMMO who often do this to cast

magic. Of course, a real Christian who sees this would feel really

unhappy about this , but Asuna wasn't a Christian, and the feeling just

now wasn't of anger of unhappiness. If she had to say it—it felt like her

fingers undid a knot that wasn't supposed to be removed...

Asuna's body got tense unknowingly as she widened her eyes. She

watched the mantle guy on the screen finish drawing the Sign of the

Cross and then put his left hand on the side of the handgun. He took

half a step back on his right foot, turned his side to Pale Rider, and

squeezed the trigger—

"Ah...?"

Someone suddenly let out a shocked voice.

The mantle guy seemed to be thinking about something as he

suddenly bent backwards.

However, 0.1 second later, Asuna and the rest immediately knew

why he had to do this. There was a large orange bullet that flew in from

outside the screen. It grazed past the open mantle, through where the

heart of the avatar was supposed to be and instead traveled through

the empty air..

Someone must have sniped at the mantle guy from far away. Also,

Asuna saw that the bullet seemed to be coming from the left rear side

of him. He actually dodged that attack with such an angle and speed

brilliantly, and even though the game world was different, she knew

that that was a rather impressive technique.

The mantle guy dodged the bullet that was suddenly shot at him

and then lifelessly brought his body back up. He then glanced to the left

rear side. Though the face couldn't be seen from deep within the hood

because of the shadows, Asuna could feel that he was giving a frivolous

smile.

At this moment, a sharp pain occurred deep inside Asuna's mind.

—What's going on? What's with this feeling? Is this...a memory? But

how's that possible...I've never been to GGO before. I haven't even seen the

game screencaps...

The mantle guy looked like he wanted to shoot through Asuna's

doubts as he again raised his handgun.

This time, he finally squeezed the trigger at the player who

collapsed due to numbness easily.

The dry gunshot. The bronze empty cartridge flew out and landed

on the barren land beside him.

The bullet that was shot hit the Pale Rider who was on the floor

right in the middle, creating a small spark on him. However, this didn't

look like a powerful hit that would deplete the HP completely.

A second later, Pale Rider himself proved that Asuna wasn't

mistaken as he finally recovered from his numb state and turned

around, putting the large gun in his right hand right in the mantle guy's

chest.

"Woah, a huge comeback..."

Asuna was also predicting that things would go as what Lisbeth

said.

However...

Let alone a gunshot or sparks, there wasn't even the sound of a

trigger being squeezed. Pale Rider's gun rolled on the floor.

Then, the owner of the gun slowly fell to the right—before

collapsing on the ground again.

Under the silver-grey helmet, they could see Pale Rider's skinny

nose and tightly closed lips. His lips were trembling, and he suddenly

opened his mouth. Then, there was a silent intense emotion that came

from deep within his throat. Asuna's instincts were telling her that the

player who was controlling this avatar was really experiencing shock

and fear.

"Wha...what is happening...?"

As Lyfa cupped her mouth with her hand and said this, something

even more unexpected happened. Pale Rider, who was lying flat on the

floor, frozen as if a pause button was pressed, then vanished with a

white static special effect.

The special effect light still remained in the air even after the

avatar disappeared before forming a word. However, the word that

showed 'disconnection' was stepped on by a dark black boot. The

mantle guy brought his left hand back into his mantle and stepped

forward.

It seemed that he knew where the camera was as he raised the

handgun in his right hand and pointed at the screen. This cause Asuna

to feel that the wall between the worlds of GGO and ALO—no, the real

world and virtual world were destroyed, that her real body was being

pointed at gunpoint, causing a chill down her back.

Within the darkness deep inside the hood, the red glowing eyes

flickered. At that moment, a robotic-like voice stuttered through the

screen.

"...My name, and the name of this gun, is «Death Gun»...«Death

Gun»!"

The robotic voice had a twisted and intense emotion. On hearing

that voice, a largest crack formed deep within Asuna's memories.

That caused her to be unable to breath and increase her heartbeat.

Her eyes were watching the hidden face that couldn't be seen on the

screen, and the face was lowering his chin. The voice rang again,

"One day, I will, appear in front of you guys, again. And then, use

this gun, to bring real death to you. I have, such, a power."

The black handgun let out a soft sound. If he squeezed the trigger

now, the bullet would feel like it would really fly through the imaginary

screen. This caused Asuna to be wary. The mantle guy seemed to have

read through her fear and gave a smile from deep within the hood. And

then, he said—

"Don't forget. Nothing's, over. Nothing, is, over—it's showtime—"

On hearing those stuttered English words, Asuna seemed to be

dealt the final blow or something.

—I know that guy.

I couldn't be mistaken. I met him somewhere before. I even spoke to

him. But where...

No, I know the answer already. At that floating city...Aincrad. Not

the safe duplicated world that's floating in the sky of ALO now, but the

real unique world I once spent 2 years in. «Sword Art Online» is not over

yet. That guy basically left out these words from what he said just now.

—Who is it? Who's the player controlling that mantle avatar...?

Asuna looked lost, but she was thinking quickly. She nearly

jumped up from the sofa the moment she heard something hard land

on the floor.

On looking back, she found that Klein, who was sitting on the bar

bench let the crystal-base cup in his right hand fall to the floor. The cup

that dropped onto the floor broke into many fragments of polygons

and disappeared. However, he didn't care that this expensive player

made set was destroyed at all as he widened the eyes under the

headband.

"Oi, what are you doing..."

Klein stopped Lisbeth from grumbling with a low and hoarse

voice.

"Im...impossible...that guy...don't tell me..."

On hearing this, Asuna really jumped up from sofa. She turned

and shouted at Klein,

"Klein, do you know him? Who exactly is that guy?"

"No, not really...I couldn't remember his old name...but...I can be

certain..."

This swordsman had deep fear in his eyes as he looked at Asuna,

and then said,

"That guy's... a member of «Laughing Coffin»."

"...!"

This time, Asuna, and even Lisbeth and Silica gasped. Even for

these two girls who lived in the middle levels, the atrocities this brutal

murder red guild «Laughing Coffin» committed in Aincrad left a deep

impression on them.

Asuna subconsciously placed her hands on their shoulders and

timidly asked Klein,

"Don...don't tell me...it's the leader of those guys, that one who

used a butcher knife...?"

"No...that's «PoH». Their manner of speaking is completely

different. However...that 'it's showtime' just now was the catchphrase

that 'PoH' loved to say. This guy should be a high-ranking guy beside

him..."

Klein seemed to be moaning about something as he finished

talking then turned to look at the screen. Asuna and the other 3 looked

over as well.

Right in the center of the large screen, the mantle guy kept his

black handgun and started moving far away. He moved in a phantomlike gliding motion and arrived at the bridge in the far corner of the

screen. However, he didn't cross directly, but went through the

perimeter of the bridge before reaching the river. In contrast to the

sharp shadows that were caused by the red sunset, the dark grey

mantle immediately went into the shadow of the metal bridge and

disappeared.

At this moment, Lyfa's weak voice broke the heavy atmosphere in

the room.

"Well...what's that «Laughing Coffin»...?"

"Well..."

Silica, who was sitting beside her, explained to Lyfa, who was the

only one present not an original SAO player, the killing atrocities the

red guild committed and their vanquishing.

On hearing that, Lyfa immediately bit her lips and looked straight

at Asuna with her jade-green eyes

"Asuna-san, I think onii-chan may know that that person existed

in GGO."

Sword Art Online Volume 6 – Phantom Bullet

"He came back really late last night, and I felt that there was

something strange about him when I reached home...maybe...he went

to GGO to settle a grudge..."

On hearing those words, Asuna was immediately stunned, and

this time, Lisbeth silently grabbed her hand. The girl forcefully grabbed

her friend's hand to calm her down and then shook her short pink hair

to raise the question she had,

"But in that case...what about the job? Didn't Kirito go to

investigate GGO because of a request?"

That's right. The one who requested Kirito for this job should be

the Virtual Division's Kikuoka Seijirou, even if he was the person in

charge of the «SAO Case Victims Rescue Force», he should know the

relation between Laughing Coffin and the various Guilds.

But at the same time, Kirito's transfer and the existence of the

mantle guy shouldn't be just a coincidence. There must be a certain

link, something that made Kikuoka notice GGO and request Kirito to

assist.

Asuna forcefully took a deep breath, still grabbing on to Lisbeth's

hand which was holding hers and said,

"I'm going off first to see if I can contact the person who

requested Kirito-kun."

"Eh? Asuna-chan, do you know that person?"

"Yeah. Everyone knows him...I'll call him here to confess. He

should definitely know the reason behind this. Yui-chan, while I'm

gone, can you please check the relevant records of GGO to see if there's

data on that mantle player?"

"Got it, mama!"

The black-haired pixie on her shoulder flew to the table and

closed her eyes as she started searching through the important

information through the vast network flow.

"...Then, please wait for me, everyone!"

Once Asuna finished shouting, she shook her aquamarine hair,

jumped over the sofa and quickly called out her window. She again

nodded at everyone and immediately pressed the log out button.

The rainbow colors immediately surrounded Asuna's body,

causing her soul to fly from the World Tree in the virtual world to the

real world that's distant away.