Chapter 5: GGO-JP server pt.2

Akio and Kazuto were on their way to the Toritsu Central Hospital, which was the same hospital they stayed at during their rehabilitation. Kikuoka had two rooms set up with high security there so the teens wouldn't be in any danger, at least in the real world.

"I'm a little nervous about this, Kazuto," Akio said as they walked into the hospital elevator.

"Me too," Kazuto admitted. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet or something?"

Akio smirked. "Heck no," he replied. "It's just that we're diving into a game that I've never played before to investigate something that could be fake."

"The audio clip Kikuoka gave us didn't tell us much about The inquisitor besides his voice. It's not much to go on but it's something," Kazuto said as they exited the elevator. Once they reached their designated rooms Kazuto added, "I'll see you in Gun Gale Online."

"Likewise," said Akio before the duo each went into their separate rooms. It was a typical hospital room, minus the fact that it had a fifty-inch TV on the wall. On the bed was an Amusphere. There was also a nurse that Akio didn't expect to see as well. "Mrs. Blackburn?! What are you doing here?"

Victoria's mother, whose name was Serena, laughed at his reaction. "Mr. Kikuoka thought it would be best if you and Kazuto were watched by people who helped you during your rehabilitation," she explained. "You'll need to remove your jacket and shirt so I can hook you up to the heart monitor."

"O-okay," Akio said nervously as he took off his jacket and shirt before setting them on a chair. After he was hooked up to the heart monitor, Akio laid down on the bed and put the Amusphere on his head.

"Good luck out there," Serena said cheerfully.

Frank formed a reluctant smile before closing his eyes and said, "Link Start!" He then entered the VRMMO Gun Gale Online.

Akio, as Arthur, spawned at the game's capital city called SBC Glocken. He looked around and saw a bunch of male players around the city.

"This is a lot different from Alfheim," Akio thought. "Go figure, killing players is the whole point of this game." He looked down to examine his outfit. He was wearing a black jacket with silver trimming, silver pants and black boots.

"Uh, Arthur?" a familiar voice said reluctantly. Arthur turned expecting Kirito but saw a player with long black hair that went down to their waist, eyes of the same color, a white jacket with black trimming, black pants and brown shoes. Akio assumed the player was a girl because of their appearance but something felt familiar about the player. "Wait, never mind," the player said.

Arthur then instantly recognized the voice. "Is that you, Kirito?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yep it's me, and it a long story." He explained. "Come on I got a friend waiting for us."

{Somewhere}

Charlie righty foot can't stay still as he was growing more impatient every minute, Rin promise to be online in the next hour but it has been 2 hours now,

"Just where the hell is that girl." Charlie question himself. As soon he was about to give up all hopes and went off to find the inquisitor, a certain person arrive.

"Umm...is this Häyhä" asked a familiar voice. Charlie turns around to find a dark purple hair girl in a white jacket with black stripes on it, and she had a trousers with the same colour of the jacket. Charlie could only guess how this is,

"What took you so long?" He as in a intimidating tone. "Rin."

"I forgot that I had kendo training tonight and I accidentally took too long on the avatar design." She answered.

"Jesus" Charlie cursed, "Anyway let get you sorted then. I'll lend you some money and teach you some bits and bobs. Sounds good."

"And what about the Inquisitor?" Rin asked.

"That could come after" he explained. "My priority is to ensure that you won't get yourself killed" He when on his menu and clicked on something, is screen was filled with digits and many codes before the screen switch to a login page.

[Password]

[**************]

"Häyhä what are you doing?" Rin curiosity asked .

"Something that will help you survive if we want to find this inquisitor." Charlie pressed the enter button, Rin's screen was filled with digit and code then there was a small white noise, then suddenly her screen when back to normal.

"What did you do?!" Rin demanded, as she fears Charlie done something that will get her account banned.

"Check your stats." He simply said with confidence. Rin went on her status page to be surprise by the fact that all of her stats have dramatically increased but all of these stats seems so familiar.

"This is all my stats from sword art?! But how?!" Charlie gave out a small chuckle before he spoke, "it a long story." He replied. Rin was disappointed to not get a correct answer from her friend but now it's time to focus on this inquisitor person.

{Somewhere}

Kirito adjusted some of his hair so it wouldn't block his vision. "Let it go, Arthur," he told the sliver-haired player. "Let's just focus on finding a way to make a name for ourselves so we'll get Inquisitor's attention."

The duo then saw Sinon, in casual clothing, in the distance. She had heard the duo running towards her and She could tell that they where the one she was waiting for.

"Sinon!" Kirito shouted at her.

"hey kirito! Let me guess," Sinon said. "You're the one kirito's been talking about?" She smiled sympathetically. "You're a bit smaller than I expected."

"Sinon can you get Arthur sorted?" Kirito requsted. "He's quite new."

"Well you picked one heck of a game to start," Sinon said. "GGO is no picnic. It smells of grime and oil. Anyway follow me, you need some gears if you want to survive."

whiles kirito went to the bar where the murder had first happen, Sinon and Arthur arrived at the gun store. The newcomer looked in awe at all the different weapons and gear that were available.

"Wow, this place looks like it has everything," Akio said.

"Well the two types of guns GGO uses are optical guns and live-ammo guns," Sinon explained. "An optical gun is lighter and more accurate, but your opponent has a defense shield, it only does half the damage. For something like BoB or TDM, a live-ammo gun's your best bet."

"I see," Arthur said slowly.

"Since you're using converted accounts, what are your best stats?" Sinon asked curiously.

"Well, our highest stat is strength, then speed is our second," Arthur replied.

Sinon thought for a moment. "You and Kirito are STR-AGI types?! Strange? Well then, I'd recommend a heavy assault rifle or a machine gun for your main weapons," she explained. "You'll need a small handgun for back-up too." She didn't notice that Arthur were confused on what she was talking about. "Wait, you just converted. Do you have any credits?"

"Maybe," Arthur said slowly as he opened his main menus. "It says i have a thousand credits."

Sinon chuckled. "Everyone starts out with that," she said. "But a thousand credits aren't enough to buy even a used revolver. I could loan you the money if you want?"

Arthur shook his head. "That's nice of you to offer, but i couldn't," Arthur said quickly before coming up with an idea. "I know. Is there a way for new players like me to get money quickly?"

"I don't really recommend them but there are gambling games where players can get credits," Sinon replied before taking Arthur to mini-game called Untouchable. It was a narrow twenty-meter alley with a small wooden fence at the entrance and was themed around the Old West. There was a pop-out version of a house at the end with an NPC, who looked like a cowboy, in front. The last time she when here with Kirito, he won the prize money and got himself all of his gear, Maybe Arthur could win as well.

"How do you play it?" Arthur asked the sniper.

"You start at the wooden fence and run towards the NPC," Sinon explained. "The objective of this game is to touch the NPC without getting shot. If you do, you'll win all the money people spent trying to beat it."

The new player gasped when they say the reward was 421,500 credits.

"That's a lot of money," Arthur said in exasperation.

"That's because no one's beaten it," Sinon replied. " And I think that's more than last time. When you pass the ten-meter mark, he switches to this super-fast quick-draw mode. By the time you see the Bullet Lines, it's too late."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Bullet Lines? Wait, how does this help me?"

"Bullet lines is the player's defensive mechanism, this helps the player to see incoming shots." Sinon explained.

"Wow! So I could get that much money you playing this" A girl asked her friend, Sinon soon recognised her friend. It was that Phantom guy.

"Yeah you can but you have to wait until other people had have there go." Häyhä said, is eyes then met contact with a certain sniper, it that Sinon girl.

"There's a co-op option that allows two players to team up and both get the prize," Sinon explained. "However, they both need to touch the NPC at the same time to win, and he shoots a lot faster to compensate for having two targets. Also, if either of them gets shot, they both lose." The quartet noticed a person with a green camo outfit about to play the game. "Looks like another sucker wants a shot at the jackpot." Arthur looked at the man how was talking to Sinon, possibly her friend but why dose he reminds him of someone.

As soon as the game said go, the man took off running down the walkway. A lot of players were cheering for him. The man then stopped and did a weird pose.

"Why's he doing that?" Rin asked curiously. Her question was answered as three bullets sailed past the man. "Was that the Bullet Line?"

The snipers nodded in confirmation. "All players have a defensive skill that lets them see the exact path the bullets will go," Häyhä said. "They're called Bullet Lines. Besides a sniper's first shot, the path lines for bullets will always show up in the target's field of vision."

The Assassin watched the challenger with interest. "Hmm," Akio hummed.

The man in the camo outfit had passed the ten-meter mark. Suddenly the NPC started firing much more quickly, causing the player to lose his balance and fall. As soon as he sat up, the NPC shot him in the chest. "Game over," the NPC said as the jackpot increased to 422,000 credits. The player exited the arena looking disappointed.

"You see, with alley being so narrow you have to charge the gunman head-on," Sinon said. "Just imagine trying to do the co-op mode. You'd have to fully understand your partner if you want to stand a chance."

Rin crossed his arms. "Of course. If we wait to see the Bullet Lines, we can't dodge them," she realized. She locked eyes with this Arthur person and thought the same thing.

As the duo walked over to the game, Sinon and Häyhä said, "What are you two doing?"

A couple of the guys whistled. "That has to be the cutest target I've ever seen," one player said.

"Ten credits that the boy get shot at the gate," said the player with the camo outfit.

Arthur and Rin ignored the comments and selected the co-op challenge. "Let's work together friend," the silver-haired player said. Rin just simply nodded. "There's more than one way to figure out an enemy's attack path,"

As soon as the gate opened, both players sprinted towards the NPC. Just as Sinon explained, the NPC was firing much faster than last time, but the Duo shocked everyone with their incredible agility and teamwork. They even managed to pass the ten-meter mark.

"No way!" one of the spectators exclaimed.

"Those players are fast!" another player added.

Soon the duo was near the NPC, who seemingly ran out of bullets. Everyone gasped when he suddenly shot laser beams from his gun, but Arthur and Rin quickly jumped up and dodged them. They then landed right in front of the NPC and touched it together. They smirked over their victory as the NPC screamed in defeat. As money began pouring out of the house, the spectators' jaws dropped to the floor.

Rin and Arthur high-fived each other. "Excellent teamwork, friend!" Arthur said.

"Totally," Rin replied before they accepted the prize money.

As soon as they exited the alley, everyone crowded around them.

"I've never seen anyone move like that, or that kind of teamwork," Sinon said in no surprise as she already witnessed this before. "How were you two able to dodge those lasers from two meters away? At that range there wouldn't have been any time between seeing the Bullet Lines and the shots fired."

Rin and Arthur looked a little embarrassed. "Well since it's a game of predictions, we just anticipated the Bullet Lines," Rin admitted.

"We basically predicated the predictions," Arthur said with a smile.

Everyone, (except Sinon and Häyhä), was taken aback. "Y-you predicated the predictions?!" The other players exclaimed in shock. Even the NPC was surprised.

Sinon heavily sigh, "I swear every fantasy gamers says that." She looked at Häyhä to see him tear up a little bit, "My girl is growing so fast."

{Later}

Häyhä asked Sinon if him and Rin could join them on there shopping since he in the same situation as Sinon. Arthur, Rin, Häyhä and Sinon were looking around the shop for anything that got the new players' interest.

"I'm confused on the specs on this assault rifle," Arthur said. "This thing's huge, so why are the caliber of the bullet it fires smaller than a sub-machine gun's?"

Häyhä eyed the silver-haired player with interest. "I'm surprised that someone who can dodge bullets like a ghost and not know that," he said. "You guys said you converted from another game. What was it?"

"Nothing special," Arthur replied, not wanting to share their history to someone they just met. "Just your typical fantasy games."

"Hahaha. So your the same as Rin" Häyhä said.

Sinon folded her arms and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "So you say. Whatever. I'll get an understanding of what you both can do later."

The Arthur let out a nervous laugh.

"Anyway," the Phantom continued. "The reason why the bullet caliber on the assault rifle is so small is to have an increase in both precision and penetration power by using a small-caliber, high-powered bullet…" Häyhä then paused. "But you two don't need to know that."

Both of the players sighed in relief since they barely understood what she said. The Quartet ended up wandering around the store, examining the other available weapons.

"Now that you two have over 400,000 credits, you can pretty much buy whatever weapon you want," Sinon said. "It all comes down to what works best for you."

"What does work for us though?" Arthur questioned until something caught his eye. "Hey Sinon, what are these?"

Sinon looked at what Rin pointing at, which looked like metal cylinders with a clip and a switch. "Those are photon swords," she explained. "It's a beam of light that you swing around like a sword. People nickname them laser blades, beam sabers, and something else I can't remember."

"Energy sword" Häyhä reminded Sinon.

"And that"

Both Rin and Arthur got excited. "No way. We can use swords here?" Rin said eagerly.

"You can, but it's not really a good idea," Sinon replied.

Arthur faced the blue haired sniper, confused. "Why not?"

"Well, you can't use it unless you're close to your target," Sinon stated. "By the time you close the distance, you'll get shot full of holes."

Rin smirked. "So basically they're good as long as we get close," she said as she got a plan on her mind. She then bought a black photon sword while Arthur bought a White one.

Sinon shrugged in defeat as the Duo held their new weapons. "Oh well. I guess everyone's got their own style," she said.

"Hey, if they sell it in a store, then it must be good for battle," Rin replied. "Even this."

Arthur and Rin activated their photon swords, causing a red and blue laser to extend from the respective hilts. They then put some distance between themselves before getting into their usual fighting stances. They both did an imitation of «Horizontal Square», matching the moves perfectly.

"Nice moves." complimented Arthur.

"You too" Rin replied.

Sinon and Häyhä applauded for the demonstration. "So those are your fantasy game moves," she said. "Impressive."

Rin smiled. "I know a couple of tricks," she replied before examining her photon sword. "This is really light."

Arthur nodded. "Yeah. This'll take some getting used to," the silver-haired swordsman added. They both tried to sheath their swords on their backs, but quickly realizing their mistake.

"Since it's clear that those will be your main weapons, you two should a handgun or a machine pistol as your secondary ones," Häyhä suggested as the duo put their swords in their inventory. "It'll distract your target so you can get closer. How credits do you have?"

"About 150,000," Arthur replied.

"Same with me," Rin added.

"Jeez, those photon swords cost a bloody fortune. We'll have to watch how much you both spend since you also need gear and extra mags for your back-up weapon."

Arthur raised his hands up in defeat. "I'll trust your judgement with that."

"Me too," Rin added.

Sinon then helped the duo find good back-up gun for them to use which ended up being the PPC9 6 which favoured accuracy over firepower, but Rin decided to get a UDAV, which favoured mainly firepower. After that, she helped them with getting their gear, a holster and extra mags with the credits they had left.

"Now that that's settled, you guys will need to do some range time," Sinon said after the new players finished getting their gear. "I doubt either of you fired a gun before, have you?"

The swordsmen shook their heads, prompting Sinon and Häyhä to take them to a shooting range near the shop. "When you buy a gun from the shop, you can test it here!" she explained loudly so Arthur and Rin could hear her over all the guns going off.

Once they found two unoccupied lanes, the duo brought out their handguns and each aimed them at a target with one hand.

"This sure is light," Arthur commented.

"That's because that model of gun is made out of a reinforced plastic," Häyhä explained. "The recoil isn't too bad on it either. But you should grip it with two hands and keep your left eye open."

"Oh, right," Arthur said as he and Rin corrected their mistakes. Soon a green circle appeared in their line of vision that constantly shrunk and expanded.

"I'm sure you're both now seeing a green circle in your field of vision," Sinon said. "That is your offensive system assist called the Bullet Circle. The bullets you fire will hit randomly inside that circle."

"This is harder than I thought," Rin said slowly. "How do I boost my accuracy?"

"You'll need to stay calm. The faster your heart is beating, the more the circle expands," Häyhä replied. "The other way is to get closer, but you can't do that here. the best way to reduce the circle is to breath slowly, calm your minds then fire.

Arthur and Rin followed both sniper's advice and did their best in slowing down their heartrate. As soon as the circle was around the targets, they pulled the trigger. They both yelped in surprise from the gunfire and the recoil. Sinon then pushed a button to bring the targets to them, and they saw that they both missed.

"No way," Arthur said in disbelief.

"What did you expect? Hitting a target is a lot harder than it looks," Sinon replied before they left the shooting range. "Although, I would've been surprised if you both got a bullseye."

The quartet then exited the gun range and went outside.

"Thanks for helping us, Sinon," Arthur said. "You too emm...mr..."

"Häyhä" The man replies. As so as that name his mind suddenly spark the memories in is mind of when the ex-templar sacrifices himself for the sake of his live, 'No, NO! It can't be he's dead it has to be a coincident there is no way he is alive!' "Häyhä's the name kid and I'm not fond of cry baby." That last line of the sentence then triggered another memory to appeared, he remembered when his friend from SAO was introduced to Häyhä and that Häyhä said that exact words. Rin then elbowed Häyhä, "Häyhä! Apologies that's not nice"

"Oh come on" He Protested, "I'm just messing with the kid." he then turn to him and raise his left hand, this revealed his hidden blade. "It's nice to meet you..err. Sinon what's his name?"

"It Arthur" Sinon answered for him. Charlie then suddenly he got some flashback of the time in SAO. 'Jesus, what a coincidence' he thought. Arthur tried to shake his hand but as soon that hidden blade was revealed , his hand started to shake violently, his heart beat raise dramatically, and he started to swear. His facial expression was filled with both surprise and disbelief almost like he seen a ghost.

"Kid? Are you alright?" Häyhä asked, looking at the kid scared the group, it's almost like seeing a soldier suffering from PTSD. Then Arthur suddenly had snapped out of it,

"Sorry, it's just you remembered me of someone I used to know." Arthur replied in a disappointing tone. "Well I'm going to the wasteland with my friend here to test out some stuff she got. I really happy if you could tag along." he requested, "I could show you some hunting tactics if you want. It's in my family's blo-"

"GOD DAM IT TEMPLAR" he snapped. "I DON'T WANT TO GO HUNTING AGAIN!" Everyone was dumbfounded of what is going on, but Charlie soon relies that this is the kid Kayaba assign to kill the rouge Templars. What was his name again?

"Akio Fujimura" he quietly said. "Shit that means the Assassin are here."

"Arthur? What with you?" Sinon asked. Rin really wanted to help the boy out but she was stop by Häyhä as he told her not to get involved. "We'll take our leave now, have fun with your day." Häyhä said. He then leads forward into Sinon's ear and whispered something,

"Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent."

"Hide in plain sight, be one with the crowd."

"Never compromise the Brotherhood"

"Tell Arthur all of this, and tell him the inquisitor has broken them all" He moved out of her ears and walked away. Sinon was left dumbfounded of what Häyhä had told her,

"What does all that mean?" She muttered.