-1726- Grant you that satisfaction

The first-floor hall of the Presidential Palace was bustling with players gathered around, pointing and whispering in one direction, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

At the center of everyone's attention, Rozen and Shinon stood facing each other.

Rozen could distinctly sense the intense hostility emanating from Shinon's gaze. However, this hostility did not carry the undertone of personal vendetta. Instead, it felt more like she was regarding him as an obstacle that she needed to overcome, which, to Rozen, was quite unexpected.

Recalling their first encounter, Shinon's gaze had been filled with a hunter's determination, akin to locking onto prey. But now, the hostility she displayed suggested a shift in perspective. For Rozen, it was almost amusing.

After all, being seen as prey implied the hunter was confident of a successful hunt, viewing the act merely as a task to complete, never doubting the outcome nor considering the possibility of the prey retaliating. Simply put, it was a mindset of absolute victory.

Previously, this was likely how Shinon regarded Rozen—hence her sense of possession, thinking, "He's mine."

But now, Shinon's perspective had undoubtedly changed. She had come to realize that Rozen was no easy target. He was, in fact, a genuine challenge she would have to fight her hardest to overcome.

Thus, Shinon's hostility now carried an edge of determination, making her attitude toward Rozen far from friendly.

On the other hand, while Rozen was slightly surprised by the sharpness of Shinon's glare, he found it intriguing.

"Aren't we already well-acquainted?" Rozen teased lightly. "If I'm not mistaken, just the other day, you fired 32 rounds at me with an anti-materiel sniper rifle, shot at least 284 bullets with a submachine gun, and even tossed four plasma grenades my way. Such enthusiastic greetings—how could we not be familiar with each other?"

His playful remark was clearly intended to provoke. But to Shinon, it came as a startling revelation.

(He knows exactly how many shots I fired at him?)

It was worth noting that on that day, while Sinon had indeed fired at Rozen, she wasn't the only one. Many other players were present, launching a barrage of bullets at him amidst the chaos.

Yet, even in that storm of gunfire and smoke, Rozen not only managed to handle everything with ease but also precisely tracked how many shots each player, including Sinon, had fired.

This level of perception…

(He really is a monster.)

Gritting her teeth, Shinon glared fiercely at Rozen.

"And you? If I recall correctly, you didn't even fire a single shot at me," Shinon retorted coldly. "So how exactly are we 'familiar'?"

It was true—despite all the firepower Shinon had unleashed, Rozen hadn't directed even one bullet at her. The most he did was counter her incoming bullets, never targeting her directly.

Thinking about it only added to Sinon's frustration.

"Do you want me to send a bullet your way?" Rozen raised an eyebrow, smiling slyly. "That's a rather peculiar request."

"You—!" Shinon's eyes flared with anger.

"Calm down," Rozen said nonchalantly. "It's not an unreasonable request. If we meet in the tournament, I'll grant you that satisfaction."

"Just make sure you don't get eliminated in the preliminaries, sniper."

Leaving those words behind, Rozen turned and headed toward the registration desk.

Suppressing the urge to draw her weapon, Shinon took several deep breaths before walking to another terminal to register.

Seeing Rozen and Shinon part ways, the surrounding players, realizing the show was over, dispersed, leaving the hall to return to its usual bustle.

Meanwhile, Rozen approached a machine against the wall.

On the screen of the machine was the logo of the "SBC Glocken Presidential Palace" along with a menu offering various services.

Using the touch interface, Rozen scrolled through the menu and selected the registration option.

Moments later, a registration window popped up on the screen.

The form not only required players to input their in-game character names and class but also asked for real-world details such as their names and addresses.

Rozen was already aware of this requirement thanks to the intel collected by Yui.

"This is for delivering tournament prizes, isn't it?"

Indeed, every BoB tournament in GGO offered prizes. Exceptional performance could earn players rare equipment, some of which couldn't be obtained anywhere else. For players, this was an enticing reward.

Among the prizes, there were even real-world items like high-priced model guns, game-related merchandise, or event tickets.

To claim these rewards, players needed to provide their real names and addresses.

"They're certainly sparing no expense."

To most, these prizes were undoubtedly tempting. But for Rozen, they were trivial.

Rare equipment in GGO? He planned to return to ALO after the tournament, rendering such items useless.

Real-world products? If he wanted them, he could easily buy them himself.

Rozen's participation in the BoB tournament wasn't motivated by prizes but by his desire to lure Death Gun out into the open.

Considering the chaos of recent events, Death Gun had likely noticed Rozen and might even join the tournament. To ensure this, Rozen had Yui spread word of his migration to GGO and his intention to enter the tournament, baiting the enemy to take the initiative.

With this in mind, Rozen prepared to bypass the real-world information fields and submit his registration. However, at the last moment, he paused.

"..."

Without any visible reason, Rozen fell silent.

Then, with a faint smile, he calmly entered his real name and address into the fields before submitting the form.

With that, the registration process was complete, and a match bracket appeared on the screen.

This was the BoB tournament's preliminary round bracket.

According to the official rulebook, all registered players had to gather in the underground venue of the Presidential Palace before the preliminaries began to compete.

During the preliminaries, players would be divided into 15 groups, labeled A through O. Within each group, players would be randomly paired to duel in various battlegrounds. Winners would proceed to the next round, while losers would be eliminated. When only two players remained in each group, both would automatically qualify for the main tournament, regardless of the final match's outcome.

In other words, only 30 players could advance to the main BoB tournament.

These 30 would represent GGO's strongest, clashing in a massive battle royale to determine the ultimate rankings.