"This...THIS IDIOT...!"
Klein shouted and slammed at the bar table. The chin that had a full moustache twisted his lips and continued shouting, "THAT'S TOO SELFISH! IF YOU HAD JUST SAID SOMETHING...IF YOU HAD JUST SAID SOMETHING, EVEN IF I WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH HELL, I WOULD HAVE DEFINITELY TRANSFERRED OVER..."
"Yeah...but Kirito-san wouldn't say this. He won't get us involved once he feels that there's danger. He's that sort of person..."
Hearing the crying and smiling Silica say that, Lisbeth beside her smiled and nodded.
"...That is right. He was like that from before... If it's like that, then right now in the tournament, he might be protecting someone from the enemy."
On hearing those words, everyone looked at the large screen on the wall like they were attracted over.
There were scenes of special effects coming out from the guns, but there was still no sign of Kirito's name, and the mantle guy who called himself "Death Gun" never appeared.
Thinking about it carefully, everyone present didn't know how Kirito looked in GGO. If he wasn't even the main character that the camera was focused on which shows the name, but as an opponent fighting on the screen, Asuna and the rest wouldn't even recognize him. However, at least the player namelist on the right side of the screen had Kirito's name on, and the other players were quickly shown to be [Dead], he was still [Alive]. This meant that he was having savage battle silently with "Death Gun" on this wide lone island that became a battlefield.
Asuna couldn't take part in the tournament even if she converted over to GGO, so she could not help Kirito. But she wanted to do something to support, protect and encourage her lover.
Asuna held the passionate feelings inside her and asked Lyfa, "Lyfa-chan, Kirito-kun didn't dive in from his own room, right?"
"Un, that's right. I only know that he dived into GGO from somewhere in the city."
Asuna herself heard of this from Kirito. The reason why she didn't log into ALO at home but at the Dicey Cafe in Okachimachi was that she wanted to meet Kirito immediately after the tournament's over. Asuna nodded her head and turned to Kikuoka.
"...Chrysheight. You should know where Kirito-kun logged in, right?"
"Ah...well..."
The mage in long robes shook his head and murmured, and that sea-colored hair of his continued to shake with a strange angle. But just before Asuna was about to step forward, he immediately nodded his head and said, "-Un, I know. I arranged for the place to log in, so the safety's alright. There's CCTV, and someone is keeping him company all the time. I can guarantee that Kirito-kun's body in the real world won't be in any danger..."
"Where's the place?"
"...Un...that's...in the hospital at Ochinomizu in Chiyoda...but don't be insecure that it's a hospital. I chose that place to allow easy access to an ECG. Of course, it's not like I knew that something could happen to the body..."
Kikuoka continued to say words that sounded like excuses, but Asuna waved her hand to interrupt him and questioned him, "The hospital in Chiyoda? That one Kirito-kun stayed at as he recuperated?"
"Un, that's the one..."
-It was nearby. Right between the Dicey Cafe in Okachimachi and Ochinomizu was Suehirochou. It wouldn't even take 5 minutes to get there by taxi.
Thinking till here, Asuna said firmly, "I want to get over there. To where Kirito-kun is in the real world."
Chapter 14.
I separated from Sinon and walked out of the cave. The red color of the sunset in the sky was nearly gone, leaving only the last trace of purple in the night.
I, who always thought that the world of GGO was always in the sunset, was slightly shocked that this world also had late night and looked up in the sky. But after thinking about it, it had to be close to 10pm in the real world, so it's obvious that the night sky would become dark.
There seemed to be no stars in the sky. It's said that there was some large-scale galactic war on this world in the past, and civilization started to decline. Right now, humans could only rely on the remains of past technology to survive. This wide night sky would even make one wonder if the planets in the galaxy were destroyed.
Suddenly, there was a small light that shone in the endless darkness from the south-west direction.
A meteor-of course that wasn't what it was. It was an artificial satellite. Ever since the last civilization shot one up, there had been no one using it now, and it continued to send information.
9:45pm. It was time for the 7th "Satellite Scanner" since the 3rd Bullet of Bullets finals began.
I turned my eyes away from the night, took the thin terminal out from my belt pouch and touched its surface. The screen immediately lit up, and the map of the surroundings appeared on it. This lone island that became the battlefield for the tournament seemed to be completely covered by desert in the north. There were a few rocky hills and little green pastures and also a flat barren land that didn't change. Speaking of which, this place shouldn't be suited for sniping.
After leaning my back on the rock wall near the hole, I tried my best to hide myself and continued to watch the device. Several seconds later, the center of the map showed a light silently. I didn't need to touch it to know that this light represented me-Kirito. Of course, Sinon, who was waiting in the cave beside me never showed up on the map.
Unexpectedly, there weren't other players who were alive in this desert in a 5km radius around me. Even if "Death Gun"-"Steven" would use the "Optical Camouflage" and not appear on the map, the other players who realized that Sinon and I were hiding in a desert cave should be gathered nearby and would be ready to lob grenades into the cave.
This doesn't sound necessarily great-but there were countless grey light dots shown all over the desert. This should be players who have retired, but there were so many "dead bodies", and yet we didn't hear any sound of battle from the cave. Speaking of which, it's really unbelievable.
I hurriedly adjusted the receiver's magnification and found that there was a light dot 6km southwest. After touching it with my fingertip, the name shown was "Yamikaze". This name seemed familiar.
Looking down even more, I found out that there were a few dark dots and two light dots that were fairly close. The survivors were "No-no" and "Fernil". I then increased the range to display the entire island on the screen. However-there were no more lights. Even the player Sinon called "Camperichie", who occupied the peak of the southern hills ever since the beginning of the tournament had become dark. Also, there were two dark dots near him. It seemed that he was ganged up on.
In other words, including Sinon and Death Gun who didn't appear on the map, there were only 6 people left in this wide battlefield.
Of course, there could be a possibility that the other players were hiding in caves or underwater, but without the unique ability of Death Gun, they wouldn't be able to receive information from the satellite. Also, at this moment where the tournament's about to end, there shouldn't be anyone who's patient enough to not to take a look at the current standings...
"...Ah"
Just when I was thinking about this as I watched the receiver, there was a sudden important change on the screen, and I couldn't help but hold back my cry.
This wasn't because the number of light dots increased. In fact, it was the opposite. 2 light dots in the ruins nearby suddenly went dark.
These two people probably didn't realize that another person was nearby. And after seeing the screen, they realized that the enemy could be behind a wall where they were. They then hurriedly threw a grenade and caused both sides to die-or that's how I think it went. If this were really the case, these two experts who fought like this until now were probably depressed over having to be eliminated like this. I had to hold back my urge to pray 'Amen' to them and send them off.
Anyway----just like that, the battle royale that originally began with 30 players was now left with four. Also, shown on the screen was just Yamikaze and me.
I finally counted the number of light and dark dots that were scattered all over the island.
And then gave a low moan.
"Eh..."
I hurriedly counted again, but no matter how I counted, the number never changed. The receiver screen showed only 2 surviving white dots. And also, the number of dots that were eliminated was 24.
The numbers didn't tally. Beside Sinon and Death Gun who didn't appear on the screen, there were only 28 people. Even if we count "Pale Rider" who disconnected and disappeared after being shot by the handgun, there should be only 29 people. There's still only one person left.
Did someone betray my expectations and hide inside a cave or underwater? Otherwise...
Death Gun "erased" another player.
No. This shouldn't be possible. Death Gun's avatar, his accomplice in the real world should be waiting in Sinon's house or somewhere nearby. I didn't think of using Sinon as bait, but Death Gun's accomplice can't move to other targets' houses like that.
-No, maybe...did I leave out something important...?
No. Now's not the time to hesitate. I closed my eyes hard and shook aside the cold air that surrounded me.
Once I opened my eyes, the light dots that were shown on the screen were starting to flicker. It seemed that the satellite was about to leave soon. Maybe...no, I don't think I need to do another scan. I silently said farewell deep inside to the satellite which worked hard and immediately looked around. Under the desert that was covered in slight darkness, there wasn't anything that could move or was glowing. I placed the device that lost its information back into the belt pouch before turning around and walking back to the cave.
The girl who was carrying the large sniper rifle didn't hide at the bottom of the buggy, but was waiting at the right corner of the cave.
"So? How is it?"
Sinon shook the short aquamarine hair that was tied to both sides as she asked anxiously. I tried to clearly and simply explain the entire situation to her.
"Two people took each other out during the scan, so all that's left should be 4 of us: me, you, "Yamikaze" and "Death Gun" who didn't appear on the screen. Yamikaze's 6km down southwest, and Death Gun should be moving over from a certain point in the desert. Also, there may be someone hiding in the cave like us."
I really couldn't say my suspicion that someone could have died by Death Gun's hands. Sinon herself didn't seem to notice my worry as she muttered while looking somewhat surprised, "...Only 4, 5 people left..."
But she then nodded her head and said, "It's been past 1 hr and 45 minutes. In the estimated 2 hours the tournament would likely take, this progress would be able to meet that. However, it's really strange that no one threw a grenade in here..."
"Un...those who were searching for us were probably dealt with by Death Gun using the sniper rifle. There were a lot of grey dots all over the desert."
"In that case...that guy should get the Max Kill award."
After shrugging with a complicated look, Sinon seemed to be motivated again and said this, "Forget about that. The problem now is "Yamikaze". You're the only survivor who appeared on his terminal, so he'll definitely come for you."
"I think I heard that name before...is he strong?"
After I asked, Sinon gave an incredulous look, "The second place in the last tournament. He's a super AGI boost type. Called the "Devil of Run and Gun"."
"Ru...run and gun?"
""Run and Gun", running and shooting as he continues to move. His weapon is the extremely light submachine gun "Calico M900A". He lost to the rare gun and defense equipment Zekushiido had the last time and got second, but some would say that Yamikaze's skills were stronger."
"This...this means that he's the strongest player in the GGO Japanese server..."
Thinking about it, since he's able to make his way to the end of the battle, he should be extremely strong. Just when I was thinking about this, Sinon brought that sort of determined voice into my ears, "Well...you just said that the real killer was "Death Gun"'s accomplice in the real world, right? If your guess is correct, Death Gun can only kill me because the accomplice's in my house."
I was a little, no, perhaps rather shocked as I watched her face that reminded me of a cat-like animal.
An unknown killer was ready to harm her body in the real world. The fear in this situation may even surpass the bind I had with the Nerve Gear and the rules of the death game I experienced. At this moment, Sinon's blue eyes were showing fear, but I could see the glint that's fighting against it. She continued to say in a cool tone to me, who was dumbstruck.
"Anyway, this means that we don't have to worry about Yamikaze being killed by Death Gun. Then, even though I'm sorry for Yamikaze, we can also use him as bait, right? If Death Gun uses the L115 to snipe Yamikaze, we can find his location. This is much more effective than you going alone as bait...and basically, I'm doing something similar."
The last words should be referring to how she's holding Death Gun's accomplice in the real world. Even though she trembled a bit at the end, it's impressive that she had the concentration to finish it off.
"...You're really strong, Sinon."
The sniper girl blinked and then smiled, "...I just didn't think about that. I was always good with ignoring things I'm scared of."
Then, she immediately said something else to cover over that dig at herself.
"Anyway, how's that strategy? I think it's a situation where we have to use it."
"Un...that's true. I agree with your strategy too...but..."
I bit my lips slightly and then said a doubt that remained in my heart a few minutes back.
"...There's something I'm worried about. During the satellite scan just now, I counted the number of survivors and those eliminated. There were 28 people. Even if we include Pale Rider, there's still one less player."
"...Don't tell me, Death Gun killed someone else after that?"
Sinon widened her eyes, but immediately shook her head.
"Tha...that's impossible! The accomplice's target should be me, right? The outside's not a virtual world. How can he move to such a place so quickly? Was another player in the same apartment as me?"
"Yo...you're right...but thinking about it, this is really a bit unnatural..."
I glanced at my watch. It's been two minutes since the scan ended, thus I quickly mentioned all the doubts on my mind clearly, "About 30 minutes elapsed from the moment Death Gun shot Pale Rider and got ready to shoot you near the stadium. In other words, Pale Rider in the real world should be living about 30 minutes away from you. Of course, this isn't impossible, but don't you find that it's too much of a coincidence?"
"...But, that's just a possibility."
I said the doubt that crept up my mind during the satellite scan to the frowning Sinon.
"No. Listen...maybe there isn't just one person as Death Gun's accomplice. If there were multiple "task forces", even if someone stayed behind to attack you, he can also harm another target. In other words...we can't deny the possibility that Yamikaze is a target of Death Gun."
Sinon gasped and hugged her huge sniper rifle hard. She shook the face that showed a little white light in the slightly dark space.
"Ho, how's that possible...? Are you saying that there are more than 3 people who're taking part in this horrifying killer plot?"
"...There were at least 10 survivors from the ex-"Laughing Coffin" guild. Also, those guys were locked in the same jail for almost half a year. Maybe they exchanged contacts in the real world...to be a little extreme, they had enough time to thoroughly go through with this plan. Of course, not all 10 people can take part...but we have no proof to decide that there was only one accomplice."
"...Why...why must they plan so much just to continue this "PK"...? They just got released from the death game, so why...?"
On hearing her trembling vice, I used my dry throat to squeeze an answer out.
"...Maybe it's the same reason why I wanted to be a "swordsman" and why you wanted to be a "sniper"..."
I thought that Sinon would be angry, but she merely bit her lips. Then, her slender body stopped trembling, and her blue eyes were giving off a strong glow.