-1722- Let you off this time

This was the long-lost silence.

In the smoke-filled canyon, all noise completely disappeared in this moment, returning everything to its original stillness.

Within this silent world, all the players who had been lying in ambush were gone.

Only one player remained, clutching their gun and kneeling on the ground.

"Ugh…"

Shinon held her Hecate tightly, aiming forward. Her finger rested on the trigger, and she bit her lip.

In her field of vision, a young man holding a rifle in one hand and a revolver in the other slowly approached.

"Are you the only one left?"

The young man smiled with amusement.

That smile was as teasing as the look in his eyes when Shinon first sniped at him.

Shinon knew very well why his smile was so mocking.

Because…

"...You intentionally left me for last, didn't you?"

A trace of humiliation flickered in Shinon's eyes.

Yes.

Rozen had intentionally left her for last.

It wasn't because Shinon had spoken up for Rozen when he first entered GGO.

The reason Rozen left her for last was simple.

"You were the only one who managed to make a halfway decent shot at me. Unlike those who ran away when they realized they couldn't win, you kept raising your gun, even when it was futile. You kept trying to find ways to overcome the situation. You even executed twelve different strategies. That made me curious about what kind of attack you'd come up with next."

Rozen walked up to Shinon, putting himself directly in her line of fire as he casually looked at her.

This made Shinon want to pull the trigger and blast Rozen away.

Now, Rozen was less than three meters away. At this distance, there was no way he could dodge a bullet fired at over twice the speed of sound from an anti-materiel sniper rifle.

Getting this close without any defense was practically suicide.

If this were any other time, Shinon wouldn't hesitate to fire and send him back to Glocken City.

But this time, Shinon couldn't move her finger resting on the trigger.

The reason was simple: Shinon had believed countless times that she could hit Rozen, only to be thoroughly proven wrong—every single time.

She had been slapped in the face so many times by reality, and it always hurt.

So, even though her rationality told her that Rozen couldn't dodge at this range, Shinon didn't trust herself anymore.

He must have the confidence not to get hit. That was the only reason he'd approach this close. Shinon was certain of that.

Thus…

"Are you satisfied now?" Shinon asked coldly. "Isn't it time for you to put a bullet in the head of the person who attacked you, just like before?"

Hearing this, Rozen rolled his eyes.

"I'd love to, but you don't seem like the type to give up. If I raise my gun, you'll definitely fire without a second thought, won't you?"

Rozen's words were so confident, as if he could see through Shinon's thoughts.

From the look in Shinon's eyes, Rozen could tell that even now, this girl hadn't given up.

This could be called strong-willed at best, and stubborn or prideful at worst.

Such a girl stirred a sense of nostalgia in Rozen.

He couldn't help but smile slightly.

That smile, however, fell into Shinon's eyes as further proof of his audacity.

Immediately, Shinon clicked her tongue.

"Are you actually afraid of me pulling the trigger?"

Shinon rarely mocked others, but she did this time.

After all, she had tried sniping Rozen so many times and fired so many bullets, only for Rozen to remain completely unharmed. Now, he was claiming to fear her shooting at him? It made Shinon feel like she was being toyed with.

However, unbeknownst to Shinon…

"Didn't you notice?" Rozen said with a smirk. "I'm out of bullets."

"Huh?" Shinon froze.

Out of bullets?

He was out of bullets?

This…

"I'm not lying." Rozen shrugged and said, "I've been hunting since yesterday. I even stayed up all night, so my ammunition naturally ran out. It's only normal to run low after spending so much time hunting. Then, I encountered your ambush and used up what little I had left."

Right now, Rozen didn't have a single bullet left, not even in his inventory. His entire stock of ammunition was empty, and he didn't have any grenades either. He had completely used everything during his hunting spree.

If that weren't the case, there would have been far fewer survivors among the players who had crossed paths with him.

While the other surviving players might have felt lucky, Shinon wasn't particularly happy to hear this.

Instead, she was furious.

Out of bullets?

He was out of bullets and still dared to approach?

Wasn't that just looking down on her?

Thinking this, Shinon opened her mouth to say something.

But before she could, Rozen spoke first.

"You think I'm underestimating you because I approached without any bullets, don't you?"

Rozen's smile deepened.

"If that's what you think, do you want to test whether or not I can still kill you?"

As he spoke, the revolver in Rozen's hand disappeared at some point, holstered at his waist. Instead, he reached down and drew something from a sheath strapped to his thigh.

"Shing…"

The sharp sound of metal scraping echoed as Rozen unsheathed a weapon.

It was a military combat knife.

In GGO, aside from firearms, the only melee weapons were of two types: solid blade knives and energy-based photon swords.

In addition to his sniper rifle as his main weapon and his revolver as his sidearm, Rozen carried a military knife as well.

"Did you think I approached just to talk?"

Rozen twirled the knife skillfully, spinning it in his hand.

"I got this close so I could take action when necessary, to deal with you quickly and cleanly."

Rozen's teasing tone caused Shinon's expression to shift several times.

Although GGO was a gunfight-based game, melee combat skills existed as well.

For instance, some players specialized in skills like Military Martial Arts, akin to the Martial Arts skill in SAO, allowing them to fight enemies in close quarters.

When Rozen transferred from ALO to GGO, one of his retained skills was this melee combat proficiency. Much like his stats, which converted into parameters here, Rozen's Martial Arts skill became a close-combat ability, giving him at least one competent skill in GGO.

This was why Rozen dared to accept Yamikaze's duel challenge outside the city zone, even when he hadn't bought any weapons yet.

With this ability and a military knife, killing Shinon would be easy for Rozen.

However…

"In recognition of your performance today and for speaking up for me before, I'll let you off this time."

Rozen sheathed his knife, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and appeared relaxed.

"Let's hope we meet again in the BoB tournament the day after tomorrow."

With those words, Rozen waved his hand, turned, and left.

"You…!"

Shinon stood up.

But before she could say anything, Rozen had already started sprinting. In a flash, he was out of the canyon.

"Wait!"

Shinon wanted to stop him, but she couldn't do anything.

Staring at Rozen's retreating back, Shinon bit her lip in frustration.

"I won't let you off…!"

Shinon swore to herself.