On hearing Sinon murmur- Kirito answered with a thoroughly pained voice, "But they really exist. That mantle guy..."Death Gun", he used to kill a lot of people in that VRMMO I was in before. Even after knowing that the enemy would really die, he still swung his sword. It was like how he shot Pale Rider just now, and...I..."

At this moment, Kirito stopped talking, looked down and let go of Sinon's hand.

However, by piecing together those heavy words and the conversation she had with Kirito before, it was easy to tell what he didn't say.

Three years ago-at the end of AD 2022, "that incident" shook all of Japan. Even Sinon, who didn't have any interest in VRMMO at that time was rather clear about this incident because of the daily long reports the media gave. There were more than 10,000 young people who were held captive in the virtual world; and two years later, the people who were released and returned back to the real world was about 6,000. In other words, 4,000 lives were gone because of this incident.

Undoubtedly, Kirito must be one of the "survivors" of that world. And if he wasn't lying, "Death Gun" should be the same as him. No, that's not it. There was an even more terrifying truth behind Kirito's confession.

Those who died in that game basically died in the real world. "Death Gun" knew that they would die and killed many players on his own will. He was "the player who really killed someone in a VRMMO" Sinon said.

That guy in GGO...at this moment, he was in the field of the "3rd BoB finals", and even took the lives of players in the real world through an unknown mean. That should be what Kirito was saying.

Sinon finally managed to get something out from her confused thoughts, and immediately felt her body chill.

Her vision started to become dark from the center. There seemed to be something watching her from the darkness. That look-that lifeless, weak and seemingly sticky swamp-like stare was...

"...-non. Sinon!"

Suddenly, Sinon heard someone calling her name, causing her to wake up forcefully. Behind the black shadow that was moving away, Kirito was looking worriedly. On seeing that pure and bewitching beautiful looks of his, the girl felt annoyed that it went against the norm, causing her phobia to be suppressed.

Sinon sighed lightly and answered, "...Don't worry, I was just a little shocked. To be honest...I really couldn't believe your words straight away...but I don't get the feeling that this is all a lie or a fabricated story."

"Thanks. That's enough."

Kirito nodded his head slightly. At the same time, the light spots on the device in Sinon's right hand flickered. The satellite in the sky above was about to leave. Sinon hurriedly switched the map over to the whole field and started counting the number of dots. Right now, there were 17 dots of lights, which meant that there were 11 dead dim lights, 28 altogether. "The numbers don't match after all..."

There were really 30 people at the start. Subtracting off the disappeared Pale Rider who disconnected, there was still one person. That should be the "Death Gun" who went underwater to avoid the scan. No, maybe he wasn't just waiting silently underwater, but moving around. However, it was hard to tell whether he intended to move to or away from the two of them. If he were approaching, he could immediately come out from the water on the east side of the bushes Sinon and Kirito were hiding at and launch his attack forcefully...

As Sinon thought about that, all the lights on the screen disappeared. Now, they could only search for the enemy with their five senses for the next 15 minutes.

Sinon glanced to the east slightly, but couldn't find any movement. The mantle guy should have moved on from the bottom of the river to the north. Though his main weapon L115A3 "Silent Assassin" was a terrifying weapon, it was a hand-operated sniper rifle like the Hecate II, so it wasn't suited for mid to close ranged combat. Most likely, he wouldn't force his attack, but pull away to hide his own location.

Thinking till here, Sinon exhaled and muttered, "We have to get out of here first...those far away will think that both of us were fighting and will come over to collect the earnings of a fishmonger."

"...You're right..."

Kirito instantly looked down at the ground, but immediately turned to Sinon and said, "If I had told you to find an absolutely safe hiding place until the tournament ended...you wouldn't listen, would you?"

"OF...OF COURSE NOT!"

Sinon immediately shouted back with her loudest voice.

"How could I do such a stupid thing that the "Camper Richie" would do! Besides, there's no absolutely safe place on this island. There are caves in the northern deserts where the satellite can't read through, but I'll definitely die if someone throws a grenade in."

"...I got it. Then, let's split up here."

"Eh..."

These unexpected words finally caused Sinon to be unable to say anything. She blinked for a few seconds and finally said with a calm voice, "The-Then what you intend to do?"

"Me, I want to...continue chasing after that "Death Gun". Can't let him use that gun to shoot anyone. And...if I faced him head on, I'll definitely remember that guy's old name. In that case..."

At this moment, the shiny lips of Kirito were tightly shut. He took a deep breath and faced Sinon straight in the face.

"...Sinon, please get away from that mantle guy. I'll abide by your promise. I'll fight with all I've got when we meet somewhere on this island...Just now, thanks for not shooting at me and listening to what I said."

After nodding his head, the black-clothed lightsaber wielder slipped out from the bushes.

"Ah...wait..."

Just when Sinon was about to instinctively call him, he landed on the deep-tea-colored ground and got up and walked towards the metal bridge in the north without turning back.

After staring at that slender figure that was gradually leaving for a moment, Sinon forcefully closed her eyes.

The air that was forcefully inhaled was exhaled hard with a silent 'that's enough!', and Sinon immediately got up from the woods. The shrubs that were wrecked by her violent action had their leaves scattered before disappearing.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

The girl shouted loudly, and the person who was 20m away stopped just like that. She immediately grabbed the Hecate and carried it on her right shoulder before running to Kirito. No matter if the other person gave such a completely surprised look, Sinon glared somewhere else and said, "...I'm coming with you too."

"Eh...?"

"You intend to fight against "Death Gun", right? That guy's an expert even without that gun. How can you keep your promise if you lose before you face me? I'm not really willing, but we should work together to chase that guy out of this island...and the tournament finals of this BoB."

After saying out all the words that ran through her mind, Sinon glanced at Kirito. In the end, though that lightsaber wielder frowned, his lips curled up, looked rather strange. Kirito struggled for a while, seemingly still worried about Sinon's safety, then shook that black hair and said, "No...you just saw that battle too, right? That guy's really dangerous. Once you're hit, your body in the real world may be..."

"We don't know where "Death Gun" ran off to, it's dangerous whether I'm with you or not. Speaking of which, a rookie like you who would continue to run away without even noticing your surroundings in an open space has no right to worry about me!"

"...Well, what you said made sense..."

Kirito again hesitated for a few seconds, but finally released the tension on his shoulders and nodded his head-right before waving his right hand at lightning like speed. As Sinon noticed that the light saber that was drawn out from his waist, the blue and purple energy blade appeared from the handle in Kirito's hand.

Ah, is this guy going to attack me now to fulfill his promise? Sinon couldn't help but stop breathing, but Kirito then looked west. Sinon looked at where he was looking at, and at that moment, about 100m away, under the shadow of a large rock, there were a few red lines appearing at them-the bullet line trajectory that bullets were aimed at.

The unknown enemy's fully-automatic machine gun roared, and Kirito's light saber left several afterimages as it knocked down all the bullets in this bullet storm that didn't leave any openings to escape. Sinon was stunned by this scene before her that she had never seen before in GGO, and could only stand there like a piece of wood, but after a second, she immediately recovered her thinking ability and got down. She released the Hecate in mid-air, and as she laid down in a prone position, she readied the stand on the ground.

At this point, they could confirm that the enemy was using a completely automatic machine gun, but the scope didn't show the Gille mantle of the "Death Gun". The enemy had a mysterious opened-helmet with a top, and the right eye had an eyepiece to correct the aim. Sinon remembered that she met this person before. He was a gunner who took part in the last tournament, called "Xiahou Dun". The weapon in his hand was a "Norinco CQ". Though this was a veteran with amazing skill, he was in a shocked state that his sturdy chin was unable to move up. It couldn't be helped that he had such a reaction, as the one magazine of bullets he fired was deflected by the lightsaber, a weapon anyone thought would be just for show.

"Impossible~!"

Xiahou Dun's stern ancient Chinese general-like face that had a beard let out a voice that didn't fit the times and then hid back into the shadows of the rock. Kirito lowered his head, glanced at Sinon, shrugged his shoulders and said, "We'll take care of that guy. I'll rush in. You'll be in charge of covering fire."

"...I understand."

Now things just got interesting. What will happen next?

Though Sinon had this thought, she still set her cheek against the wooden stock of her beloved gun.

References

A grid or pattern placed in the eyepiece of an optical instrument, used to establish scale or position.

Chapter 11.

"They haven't really caught onii-chan on camera-"

Lyfa said as she shook her blond pigtail that had a slight green tinge to it, and beside her, Silica was moving the cat ears that came out from her light brown hair to respond to her.

"That's really unexpected...I thought Kirito-san would definitely go in and show all his skills."

"No no no. Don't think of him like that. That guy's really calculative. Maybe he's hiding somewhere and waiting for the number of participants to drop before coming up."

Klein, who was in the bar counter at the corner of the room, said casually. Asuna, who was sitting at the center of the room with Lyfa and Silica, gave a wry smile on hearing this.

"Kirito-kun couldn't possibly do such a thing...I think.."

Asuna said softly. At that moment, the small pixie that was sitting on Asuna's left shoulder started to flap her membrane thin wings. This was the AI Yui, who was Asuna's and Kirito's "daughter".

"That's right. Papa would definitely move behind the enemy at a speed the camera couldn't even catch and launch a quick attack!"

On hearing that logical conclusion from Yui, Lisbeth who was sitting to the left started laughing, "Ahaha, that's rather possible too. Also, he's using a sword instead of a gun in a game full of gun weaponry."

At that moment, everyone imagined Kirito's situation, and then the room was filled with hearty laughter. The small dragon 'Pina' was curled up on Silica's lap.

It had been a long time since these six people and a pixie gathered together, and right now, they weren't in the real world, but the VRMMO RPG "ALfheim Online" everyone had joined. The vast virtual world inside ALO contained a giant "World Tree" on the map, and there was even a city in the sky called the "Yggdrasil City". Kirito and Asuna rented a room together in a corner of that city, and this became the gathering place tonight.

As expected of a room that cost 2,000 Yurudo monthly, the inside was rather vast. The wooden floor was polished brightly, and a sofa set was placed at the middle of the room. There was also a private bar counter against the wall. There were numerous wine bottles on the shelves, they were found amongst the pile of goods Klein obtained in the virtual world from the lands of the 9 different spirits and the underground Jotunheimr. It's said that there's a fantastical item that 'wouldn't make anyone drunk and yet tastes better than a 30-year-old Scotts Whiskey'. Of course, the under aged Asuna still couldn't understand the value of these wines.

The south side of the room was an entire wall of glass, and normally, this would allow for a wonderful view of the Yggdrasil city. But today, they couldn't enjoy the night scenery of this city. That's because that glass wall could also become a large screen which was airing the scene from another world. That was-the network TV "MMO Stream" telecasting the live view of the "3rd Bullet of Bullets" tournament in "Gun Gale Online".

The main aim for today's gathering was to cheer for Kirito, who went to take part in this tournament without saying anything, and also critique his behavior outside. Unfortunately, their ally, the axe warrior Agil wasn't here as the cafe bar he was running in the real world was at its busiest. Even so, Asuna herself wasn't at home, but logged in from the 2nd floor of his shop "Dicey Cafe". This was to allow her to catch Kirito who was in the middle of the city somewhere and lecture him good.

"But why did that Kirito move his avatar from ALO to GGO just to participate in the tournament?"

Lisbeth was holding a glass cup that was full of jade-colored grape wine as she said that with a puzzled tone. On her left, Lyfa then shot Asuna a look. Right now, only Asuna, Lyfa and Yui knew that Kirito received a request by a friend in ALO, the Undine water mage "Chrysheight"-actually, the person controlling the avatar was an officer of the 'Virtual Division', Kikuoka Seijirou-to investigate GGO. From the way Lyfa gave the 'I'll leave it to you' look, Asuna pondered for a while before answering, "Well...it seemed that he received some strange job. I heard that he had to investigate some VRMMO, or rather, the current state of "The Seed Nexus". GGO is the only game with a "Money Trading System", so it was chosen to be investigated."

These were exactly the words that Kirito had said, but Asuna didn't think that this was the truth. Of course, she didn't feel that Kirito would lie to her, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding something crucial from her. A few days ago, after they finished their date and were about to head home, Kirito explained the reason why he had to switch games, and at that moment, Asuna could tell from Kirito's expression, tone, and attitude that there was something going on.

At that time, she told herself not to ask too many questions as there must be a certain reason why Kirito couldn't say it out. Also, Asuna believed that the reason would definitely not betray her trust.

Thus, Asuna merely said 'do your best' before watching Kirito leave. Right now, she could only hang out with a few good friends, wait in a distant world, and watch the live telecast- But she couldn't deny that she had been feeling extremely anxious for some reason during the past few days.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Kirito, but a rather vague premonition. Something was about to happen, no, it really will happen. It was like that maze area in Aincrad in the past, being surrounded by a large number of monsters outside the search range as they gradually move in- Asuna's voice and expression shouldn't have revealed her worry, but as her good friend, Lisbeth could have felt that something wasn't right through her sixth sense as she nodded with an ambiguous expression.

"I see...working. That guy is a person who can immediately get used to any game and is rather suited for this kind of work..."

"But there's no need to take part in a PvP tournament out of a sudden, right? If it were just investigation work, he should be talking on the streets to other players."

On hearing Klein, who was waiting at the wall, ask this question, the four of them, including Asuna and Lyfa felt puzzled too. A while later, Silica then stuttered and said, "Maybe he...intends to earn a large amount of money by winning this tournament and test the money trading system? I once heard that the minimum exchange rate was rather high..."

On hearing these words, Yui, who was on Asuna's shoulder, immediately quipped, "The official website didn't have any records, but according to news on other websites, the lowest exchange value is 100,000 points in GGO, and the exchange rate to yen is 100 to 1, so it can be exchanged for 1,000 yen. The operating company seemed like they would be sending the added value digital money over to the players log-in email. The prize for winning this tournament is 3 million points, and so it would be 30,000 yen in exchange."

Yui said that rather simply, but that was the outcome she had after searching through the vast network database. Her search ability and detailed accuracy of information was something even "search experts" could never match up to. It's no wonder that Kirito would often ask her to do his assignment reports, and actually, Asuna and the rest would occasionally do that.

"Thank you,Yui-chan."

Asuna patted the pixie's head with her finger and pondered as she said, "It seems like the money trading system isn't really complicated...we also send encrypted digital money over through e-mail. Kirito-kun shouldn't have to investigate it personally..."

"Maybe he got lured by the 30k prize money."

On hearing Klein make such a direct remark, everyone gave a wry smile. Lisbeth immediately shot him a 'Kirito's not like you' and continued on normally.

"But in terms of a large PvP tournament, it's normally impossible to come up on a top ranking position through hiding somewhere. I remember ALO had this sort of tournament, and if they hide in the same place, there will be some sort of searching magic that will be automatically activated and doesn't allow them to hide, right?"

"...And to be honest, onii-chan's personality wouldn't allow him to do that. If he hears someone fighting, he couldn't possibly be patient enough to wait around and hide at a certain spot."

As expected of Lyfa who lived with Kirito for a long time, her words were really convincing. Everyone felt that Kirito really was this sort of person.

As they were thinking, on the large screen that should be about 300 inches wide, there were many live telecasts flashing through. As it was a shooter game, they would normally record the live telecast from somewhere behind the player. As the camera follows the player, the bottom of the screen would show the name of the player. However, the screen that was divided into 16 different telecasts never showed 'Kirito's name'. The camera would normally show people fighting, and they knew that during the 30 minutes up till now, Kirito hadn't fought yet.

Did he become cautious after moving from a world full of swords and magic into an unfamiliar world of guns? But the Kirito she knew was someone who would accept a challenge no matter the circumstances. Like what Lyfa said, it's rare to take part in such a large scale tournament, so it's impossible for him to not meet any other players during the 30 minutes and hide. If he went off to fight against the hot favorite of the tournament and got beaten splendidly-that would fit his personality, but the participant list on the right side of the screen showed that Kirito's status was 'Alive'.

"...Which means that there's a more important objective than being heavily involved in the tournament?"

As Asuna muttered, the center of the 16 screens displayed a battle that was at its climax.

The main player involved was called 'Dyne'. He readied a machine gun on the end of a red rusted metal bridge and continued to fire. However, the enemy who was dressed in blue and white clothing easily leaped onto the bridge like a Cait Sith before closing in on him. Then, the enemy fired the large gun that those criminals in Hollywood movies would use and finished off Dyne.

At this moment, Lisbeth seemed to be watching the same image, and she whistled.