-1742- Just you wait!

"Hm?"

Rozen, who was about to head toward the corner, stopped in his tracks, raised his head, and looked toward the source of the voice.

"That's..."

Not only Rozen but even Shinon turned her gaze in the same direction. Once they saw the face of the person approaching, their expressions immediately tensed.

"I've been waiting for you."

The speaker was a man draped in a cloak.

However, he was not a remnant of the Laughing Coffin or Death Gun with their tattered cloaks. Instead, he was a short man with a rooster-like appearance, sporting a tuft of red-dyed hair.

It was none other than Yamikaze.

The surrounding players started to stir.

"It's Yamikaze!"

"Yamikaze is here!"

"This is going to be fun!"

Excitement rippled through the crowd, but Yamikaze paid no attention. He approached Rozen, glanced briefly at Shinon, who was glaring at him from the side, and then fixed his gaze on Rozen.

Under the weight of his gaze, Rozen remained as calm as still water.

"Long time no see," Rozen greeted him with an unnervingly composed tone, as if catching up with an acquaintance.

Yamikaze raised an eyebrow at this.

"It's only been a week. That hardly counts as 'long.'" Yamikaze sized Rozen up and then remarked, "But in this week, you've done quite a few surprising things."

Who could argue with that?

The last time they had met, Rozen had been nothing more than a newbie universally ostracized by GGO players. The moment he entered GGO, he was ambushed and had encountered Yamikaze in the process.

At that time, Yamikaze could never have imagined that in just one week, Rozen would achieve so many astonishing feats.

Against the coordinated assaults of hundreds of players, Rozen turned the tables and took them down.

Against renowned BoB tournament players, Rozen dominated with sheer strength.

Even when ambushed by countless players in the Fields of Death, Rozen emerged unscathed, counterattacking and eliminating over half of them, forcing formidable opponents like Daikaze, last year's 13th-place BoB contender, to flee in humiliation.

Each achievement left Yamikaze, who had not seen Rozen since then, thoroughly stunned.

"It seems I underestimated you last time," Yamikaze admitted.

Clearly, when Yamikaze had challenged Rozen previously, he hadn't considered him much of a threat.

This time, however, he had no choice but to acknowledge Rozen as a serious contender.

After all, among the thirty tournament participants, Rozen's betting odds were the closest to his, marking him as the most significant potential threat.

"Not engaging you outside the zone last time—I'm not sure whether to call that lucky or not," Yamikaze said.

Rozen raised an eyebrow in response.

"Oh?" Rozen said with a faint smile. "Are you saying you were afraid?"

Afraid of what, exactly?

Afraid of losing to Rozen in such a scenario, of course.

If Yamikaze had lost to an unarmed Rozen back then, his reputation as the strongest player in GGO would have been completely ruined.

Yamikaze clearly understood this, which was why he referred to it as potentially lucky.

However...

"I'm not so lacking in confidence as to fear losing to an unarmed player," Yamikaze said in a low voice. "However, underestimating you without knowing your true strength could have led to my downfall. In that sense, learning about your capabilities before our battle is not a bad thing."

"Is that so?" Rozen nodded but countered, "But I've yet to see you in action, let alone evaluate your strength. It's hard for me to regard you as a worthy opponent."

"...!" Yamikaze's expression immediately darkened.

The surrounding players erupted into murmurs.

No one had expected Rozen to make such an audacious statement.

But wasn't it the truth?

No matter how much others lauded Yamikaze, it didn't prove anything.

Rozen genuinely didn't know how strong Yamikaze was or whether he was truly a match for him.

Still...

"They say you're the strongest player in this BoB tournament and the most likely to win. I'd really like to see if you live up to that reputation," Rozen said with a sudden grin.

"Our agreement from that day should still stand, right?"

What agreement?

"The promise to settle this in the BoB tournament."

Rozen casually brought up the matter.

Yamikaze sneered in response.

"I, too, want to see if the so-called 'Magus,' who has made so many players quake in fear, is truly as monstrous as they say," Yamikaze said coldly. "Just don't get eliminated too soon."

With that, he turned and left.

Rozen didn't say anything more either. He turned to leave as well.

At that moment...

"Don't think your only opponent is Yamikaze!"

A finger jabbed Rozen in the back.

"Whether it's you or Yamikaze, I'll blow you both away with my Hecate!"

Shinon stood behind him, as if aiming her gun at his back, and spoke in a low voice.

"Don't think for a second that you two are the only competitors in this BoB tournament!"

In that moment, the hesitation in Shinon's eyes vanished.

(That's right, none of that matters.)

Regardless of what Rozen or that tattered cloak-wearing figure wanted to do in the tournament, what did it have to do with her?

Her sole purpose remained unchanged.

To win.

To defeat everyone.

That alone was enough.

Everything else was irrelevant.

"Just you wait!"

With those words, Shinon also turned and walked away, her stride exuding an air of resolute determination.

Watching her retreating figure, Rozen couldn't help but reflect.

"What could possibly drive her to show such resolve in a game like this?"

He couldn't figure it out yet.

But his intuition told him that Shinon had her own story—a significant one at that.

Though it didn't concern Rozen directly, it didn't stop his curiosity.

"I'll look forward to seeing how you perform in the tournament," Rozen murmured with a faint smile. This time, he truly walked away, leaning against a pillar, arms crossed, eyes closed, awaiting the start of the match.

The spectators began to murmur, discussing the upcoming battle with both anticipation and apprehension.

With players of such caliber, they couldn't tell whether this was a blessing or a curse.

Still, they resolved not to be underestimated.

The players steeled themselves, ready for the countdown to end.

Before long, the synthesized system voice echoed throughout the arena.

"Thank you for waiting."

"Now, I announce the official start of the third GGO elimination tournament, The Bullet of Bullets."

"Players will now be collectively transported to the battlegrounds."

"Detailed rules for the match are outlined in the guide sent to all participants."

"Let the games begin."

With that, a transport light enveloped all the players, transferring them to the battlefield.

Simultaneously, the live broadcast of the BoB tournament began, eliciting cheers from VRMMO players everywhere.

The grand spectacle had officially commenced.