Suddenly, a forceful and powerful voice sounded right as a hand grabbed her left arm hard. Sinon grabbed onto Kirito's body just like that. Then, the old fossil fuel engine immediately let out a growl. The buggy's front wheel went up and then flew as if it was shot out on the road.
Every time Kirito used his foot to step on the pedal, Sinon felt that an acceleration was making her move backwards. While surrounded by fear, she continued to maintain her consciousness and grabbed onto that skinny body with all she had. A dark force continued to try and swallow her, and the warmth that was coming from Kirito's body was the only reliance she could use to fight it.
The buggy that reached the top gear let out a sharp roar in the ruins and started to race down the street.
—Can we... really escape safely...?
Though she felt anxious inside, Sinon didn't have the courage to turn back. It was only now that she found that her body was still trembling.
The sniper girl moved her stiff fingers, ready to move the Hecate she was carrying in her right hand back onto her shoulder. At this moment, Kirito's anxious voice rang again,
" —DAMN IT, WE'RE NOT OUT OF THIS YET! DON'T RELAX!"
She looked back instinctively—
She immediately saw the mechanical horse that wasn't destroyed successfully dash out from the motor pool that was gradually drawing further away. The girl widened her eyes in disbelief, but there was no need to tell who the person on it was.
The mantle on the rider flapped like black wings of a crow. He carried the L115 on his back and held the metallic leash with both hands. That posture of kneeling down on the stirrup and moving up and down as the horse galloped looked no different from a skilled rider.
Clak, clak.
The heavy footsteps caused Sinon's to descend into confusion.
"Why?..."
He could actually ride a horse. She used to hear that even those with horse riding experience in real life would have difficulty controlling the mechanical horse in this world. However, the dark-colored horse galloped and leaped over the abandoned vehicles, chasing with a similar speed to the buggy.
That look of his made him look like he wasn't an ordinary player like Sinon, but rather, a concentration of fear within the girl's heart that was flowing out. Even though she tried to look away, she couldn't help but concentrate on the face of the rider that was 200m behind them. Sinon obviously couldn't tell the distance clearly, but she felt that she could see those eyes that were deep within the darkness of the hood and a bloody mouth revealing a smile.
"He's catching up...! Faster... get away... get away...!"
Sinon cried out with a soft wailing voice.
And Kirito seemed to be answering her request as he pushed the three-wheeler buggy to full speed. But at this moment, the rear wheel of the buggy ran over an obstacle and jumped up, causing the back to slide to the right.
Sinon screamed and tilted left instinctively, hoping to use this to balance the buggy. If the buggy skidded at this time, Death Gun would catch up to them in 10 seconds. Kirito cursed while he controlled the shaking frame of the vehicle.
The buggy let out a sharp rubbing sound and skidded left and right, and several seconds later, finally regained balance and again accelerated. However, Death Gun used this minor error to close a large part of the gap between them.
As they drove through the highway of the ruins, obstacles continued to appear as if someone was playing a prank on them, causing the buggy to continue shaking from side to side when made to drive quickly. Also, there was a layer of thin dust all over the road surface, and the wheels would lose grip once it ran over them. Every time that happened, the buggy would skid slightly to the side, and Sinon would tense up.
Even though the pursuer was under a similar condition, this road that was full of obstacles was more advantageous to the mechanical horse. Thus, the mantle guy continued to easily avoid the abandoned cars and close in on Sinon and Kirito. Also, the enemy had another advantage.
Even though the three-wheeler buggy and the mechanical horse were transportation tools that could accommodate two people, there were two people on the buggy, and one on the mechanical horse. Of course, the buggy would be slower in its acceleration.
Every time the horse appeared from behind the shadows of the obstacles, the profile that was closing in would become larger. Even though there was still some distance, Sinon still felt there was a stinging metallic sound continuing to irritate the back of her neck.
Just when both parties were 100m away from each other,
Death Gun's right hand let go of the rope and pointed something at the two of them. What he was holding was – that black handgun, «Type-54 Blackstar».
Sinon, who felt like her entire body collapsed into the freezer, couldn't get down into the buggy for cover and could only watch as the handgun was aimed at them. Her teeth were trembling, letting out irregular kakaka sounds. Fuu, the red bullet line wordlessly moved up Sinon's right cheek. She turned her head to the left without hesitation.
Then, the gun let out an orange glow like a devil with a bloody mouth—
*BAM!*
The fatal bullet dragged a sharp sound and flew towards her before gliding 10cm past Sinon's right cheek.
Even though the bullet moved past the buggy and hit the abandoned vehicle in front, the particles that floated in the air still grazed past Sinon's face. At this moment, she felt a sharp pain as if someone scattered dry ice on her.
"NOOO!!!!"
This time, Sinon finally cried out loud in anguish. She turned her eyes away from the Death God behind her and stuck her face onto Kirito's back. After that, the second bullet seemed to hit the rear fender of the buggy, and they could feel a strong jerk on their feet.
"No... save me... save me..."
Sinon curled up like a baby and continued to repeat the same words over and over again. She couldn't hear a gunshot, but the sound of the horse galloping was getting closer, and it seemed that Death Gun intended to catch up to the buggy before firing.
"Sinon... can you hear me, Sinon!"
Kirito called Sinon's name again, but couldn't get any response. She just remained crouched against his back, letting out soft whimpers.
"SINON!"
After she got shook by the sharp sound again, Sinon finally managed to stop whimpering. She moved her neck slightly and looked over at the back profile of Kirito which had that flowing black hair. Kirito was looking forward, pushing the three-wheeler buggy to its limit and saying with a stiff yet calm voice,
"Sinon, we'll be caught up at this rate—hurry up and snipe him!"
"I...I can't do that..."
Sinon forcefully shook her head to refuse. Though she felt the heavy weight of the Hecate II, this weight that would normally fill her up with battle intent couldn't bring her any feelings.
"It's alright if it doesn't hit! Just hold him off!"
Kirito persisted in shouting, but Sinon could only continue to shake her head.
"...I can't do it... that guy... that guy, he..."
That guy was the soul that awakened from her memories, and even if she used twelve 7mm bullets to hit him in the heart, she couldn't stop him—that was what Sinon believed. Direct damage was already ineffective, let alone holding him off.
However, Kirito turned around, and those black eyes were shining brightly. He said,
"Drive then! I'll use that gun to snipe him!"
On hearing those words, the little pride that remained in Sinon's heart shook her up—
—Hecate's... my identity. Other than me... no one else can use it...
These interrupted thoughts seemed to act like some sort of weak electric pulse in a circuit and caused Sinon's right hand to move.
She slowly moved that large sniper rifle from her shoulder and then placed the gun over the rear fender on the back of the buggy, while timidly supporting her body she brought her eye over to the scope in front.
The magnifier was at its minimum, but at a distance of less than 100m, the figure of the mechanical horse carrying Death Gun took up more than 30% of the scope's view. Sinon originally intended to increase the magnifier to hit straight in the middle of Death Gun, but the hand that reached out to increase the magnification stopped.
If she continued to enlarge it, she would see that face under his hood clearly. On thinking up till here, her fingers couldn't move. Sinon then moved her right hand over to the gun grip and got into sniping position.
Death Gun should have noticed Sinon's action, but he had no intention of dodging, let alone stopping. His hands were holding onto the leash as he continued to race over. Sinon knew that she was being underestimated, but on thinking that Death Gun may take out that handgun—that accursed Type-54 handgun Sinon herself used that eventful day, she couldn't feel any anger, just complete fear.
One shot. Just one shot would be enough. In such a close distance, even if the enemy could see the bullet line, there was a chance that he could fail. Sinon gathered that pessimistic and little battle intent together, ready to let the index finger in the trigger guard touch the trigger.
However...
A surge of mysterious anxiety struck, again preventing her action.
No matter how hard she tried, her finger just couldn't touch the trigger. It felt like her one and only partner, Hecate, was rejecting Sinon herself—
"I can't shoot it..."
Sinon/Shino muttered with a hoarse voice,
"I can't shoot. My fingers won't move. I can't... can't fight anymore."
"NO, YOU CAN!"
The strong yet stern voice rang from behind her.
"THERE'S NO ONE WHO CAN'T FIGHT! THERE'S ONLY THOSE WHO GIVE UP ON FIGHTING!"
Even though she was chided by her greatest rival Kirito, the flame that was about to disappear in Sinon merely flickered.
Choose? I'll just choose to give up on fighting then. I don't want to relive those painful memories. I had enough of seeing my hopes taken away and destroyed. It's just my delusion to think that I can survive in this world if I have ability. I will always have to carry the fear of the grudge by that man and the gun. I can only lower my head, hold my breath, not look, and not bring any feeling to this...
Suddenly, a scorching flame reheated Sinon's frozen right hand.
The girl opened the eyes that were originally closed.
Kirito was originally sitting on the seat of the buggy, but at this moment, he turned around, and he was leaning on Sinon's back while standing on the pedal. He reached his right hand out, holding Sinon's right hand that was about to fall off from the Hecate's grip and held it forcefully.
It seemed that he was able to set the three-wheeler buggy's gas pedal to full throttle as the buggy was still running forward. However, they would soon hit an obstacle. Kirito himself seemed like he didn't mind as he shouted at Sinon's ear.
"I'll shoot too! So, just once, please move this finger!"
Sinon wasn't clear if the system would allow two people to shoot one gun. However, the flame-like heat that radiated from the touch of Kirito's hand made her feel that the frozen fingers were starting to melt.
The sniper's fingers twitched slightly—the finger touched the metal that formed the trigger.
In her eyes, she could see the bullet line. However, the aiming circle was so large it exceeded Death Gun's body into the area surrounding it and was irregularity moving about. Sinon's heart was in a mess, and the buggy that was racing was jerking way too much. If this kept up, there was no need to consider how the enemy will dodge, because the bullet wouldn't fly straight.
"No-No way... I can't possibly aim if it keeps jerking like this..."
Sinon weakly moaned, but a calm voice immediately rang beside her ear,
"Don't worry, it'll stop shaking in 5 seconds. Listen up... 2, 1, NOW!"
*BAM!*
The powerful shock came with a sudden sound, and the buggy stopped shaking in a miraculous manner. It seemed that they were flying in the air after being hit by something. Sinon glanced at the ground from the corner of her eye, and found that there was a wedged-shaped sports car lying there like a ramp. Kirito let the buggy head to this direction before he even turned around.
...Why is he so calm even in such a situation?
Immediately, Sinon asked in her heart, but she again denied her own question.
...No, this has nothing to do with being calm. This person just did what he could do. He never tried to find excuses for himself and chose to fight with all he's got. That's—that's this person's real ability.
During the finals of the preliminaries yesterday, Sinon once asked of Kirito—with such ability, what he was still scared of.
However, this question itself was a huge error. No matter how scared, troubled, or pained he was, he could still move on. That was the real «strength». He could only choose over whether he should get better or not, whether to fire or not.
Of course, she couldn't be as strong as Kirito. But at least for now—she wanted to at least give it her all.
Sinon bet on all her heart, to squeeze her finger that was placed against the trigger of her beloved gun.
This mere slight adjustment of the trigger felt extremely heavy. However, with the support of that warming hand, Sinon's finger finally squeezed it slowly. The reticle that appeared in her sights started to shrink, but half of the enemy was still outside the circle.
She probably, no, definitely won't be able to hit the target.
Having fought for so long as a sniper, this was the first time Sinon had such a thought as she squeezed the trigger.
Like an unpleasant nauseous feeling that was about to be puked out, her beloved gun Hecate II shot the bright flame from the muffler, shooting a loud bang she never heard before.
Still in an unstable state, Sinon couldn't hold back the recoil effectively as she jerked back, but Kirito held her steadily. The buggy jumped over the top and started falling, and Sinon could only stare wide-eyed on the vehicle and watch the bullet fly. Under the sunset, the spinning line grazed the riding Death God with the nearest of misses and went by his right.
—I missed...
There were still bullets inside the magazine, but Sinon didn't even have the strength to pull the bolt down and could only mutter.
However, perhaps the pride of this «Goddess of the Underworld» wouldn't allow this bullet to miss completely as the anti-tank sniper rifle didn't leave a useless hole in the asphalt, but went into the truck that was lying on the road.
In GGO, all the artificial objects that were placed in battle zones seemed to be there for players to use as cover. But as expected of a game that used MMORPG and FPS elements, each artificial object had a little trap. Like how a gas tank or a large machine may be lit on fire or even explode once they take a certain amount of damage. With such a chance, the old abandoned vehicle that was placed on the road may have some gas inside the fuel tank. Once it got hit by the bullet—
The large truck started to let out small sparks.
Death Gun, who was just ready to move beside the truck, immediately intended to let the mechanical horse jump to the other side after noticing it.
But before he could do that, a large fireball exploded, and the orange glow immediately swallowed the bus and horse.
The three-wheeler buggy that finished its jump landed at this moment, and as it landed, the tremendous bounce and the powerful impact that shook the entire main road occurred at the same time. Even though the scene of explosion couldn't be seen because of the sports car that acted as a platform, Kirito and Sinon still witnessed the mechanical horse scatter into pieces in the pillar of fire.
—Did I take him down...?
Sinon had this thought for a moment but immediately shook it off. How could an explosion of an obstacle kill a Death God? The most it could do was to buy some time, but to them, this was really a great miracle.
Kirito, who again turned to look in front, first tried to steady the buggy that was about to collapse sideways, and then continued to accelerate.
Sinon collapsed onto the seat and watched the smoke float up into the purple sunset. She couldn't think anymore, and could only let her body jerk along with the racing buggy.
The number of buildings and abandoned vehicles on both the left and right sides started to decrease, and the natural rocks and mysterious plants started to take over. Once she recovered, she found that the three-wheeler buggy had already passed through the center of the lone island and arrived in the desert in the north.
The path went from the damaged asphalt road to a mere gravel path that was hardened by compression. The three-wheeler buggy started jerking more and more, and Kirito could only slow down and cautiously move the buggy through the sand dunes.
Sinon was merely counting the number of big cacti around them, but seemed to realize something as she looked at her left hand. The long and thin needles showed that the current time was 9:12pm. What shocked her was that they spent merely 10 minutes moving from the riverbank in the south of the streets to the ruins up here.
But during this short time, the finals of the BoB—no, this game called GGO had a tremendous change in definition to Sinon.
As she used her slightly cool head to think, she knew that the player called «Death Gun» couldn't be the man she shot in that post office robbery incident a long time ago. The «Type-54 Blackstar» that caused Sinon to think that way wasn't a really popular gun, but it wasn't some rare weapon and was rather cheap. Maybe Death Gun merely chose it as his support weapon out of coincidence.
The problem was that she could immediately feel fearful, timid and it could even trigger her phobia once she saw that gun.
Sinon had treated those enemies in this world who use the Blackstar as one of her goals. She believed that she could calmly fight against them even if that gun was pointed at her, and finally bury it amongst the many targets Sinon shot down in the past.
But she was ever so awkward when she met it for real. The effects of the stun bullet was completely gone, but she just felt rather slow all over, and her hands couldn't help but continue to tremble. Even the familiar weight of the Hecate she carried just felt like a burden.
—Everything was a lie, I was just fooling myself. The large amounts of kills I got, and this thought that it could prove my ability, they were completely meaningless...
As Sinon was feeling dispirited, the wheels suddenly skidded, and the buggy then stopped. Kirito's sturdy voice rang from behind her,
"Ahh... how can we find a hiding place in the midst of a vast desert?..."
On hearing those words, Sinon started thinking. Kirito was already severely injured after coming to save Sinon while she was stunned. Now he should be thinking of hiding in the desert and using the first-aid pack that was given to all the players to recover their HP. However, that equipment's healing effect was rather slow. If he intends to recover safely, it wouldn't be enough to hide behind the sand dunes or the cacti.
Sinon held up her still blurry head and looked around. As she found was that reddish-brown rocky hill slightly further away. She slowly pointed there,
"...There should be a cave there."
"Ah, that's right. You said that there are caves to avoid the Satellite Scanner in the desert."
Kirito quickly answered and turned the buggy off the road. A bit later they reached the rocky hill and circled around it. As Sinon expected, they discovered a huge hole at the north side. Kirito slowed down and brought the entire buggy inside.
The hole was rather big, and there was still a lot of space once they drove the vehicle over to a place that couldn't be seen from the entrance. Though the inside was dark, the sunset that was reflected on the wall would still allow all five fingers to be seen.
Kirito turned off the engine, stretched his body out on the sandy floor and turned to look back at Sinon.
"We'll hide from the next scan here—ah, wouldn't our device not receive the satellite information?"
On hearing that unnecessary question, Sinon couldn't help but give a wry smile. She got off the buggy with weak legs, arrived near the granite wall, sat down and said,
"...Of course. If other players were nearby. They would try their luck by throwing a grenade, and both of us will be dead inside."
"I see. But at least it's better than removing all my equipment and swimming underwater... and speaking of water..."
Kirito left the buggy and glanced at the entrance of the cave before saying,
"«That guy» just appeared beside you, right? Does that mantle have some sort of ability to make him invisible? He disappeared at the bridge. The satellite couldn't get any visual on him. Maybe it's not that he swam but used that ability..."
"...I guess so. That's an unique ability called «Metamaterial Optical Camouflage». It's normally reserved for boss monsters... but it's not strange to have such an equipment with an effect like that."
At that point, Sinon finally understood what Kirito was worried about. She looked inside the cave of the entrance and then softly said,
"...I guess it's alright here. There's sand all over the ground, so someone invisible can't hide their footsteps, and will also leave footprints. He can't appear suddenly like just now."
"I see, but we better prick our ears."
Kirito finally seemed relaxed and then sat slightly far away on Sinon's right side. He took out the first-aid kit from his belt pouch and tipped the front on his neck in a stiff motion before pressing the button on the other side. A light 'zzz' sound could be heard, and the red light that showed the recovery effect covered Kirito entirely. A first-aid kit could recover 30% HP, but will take 180 seconds, so it was meaningless to do this in battle.
After turning her eyes from the right side, Sinon again looked at her watch. The time now was 9:15pm, which was the fifth Satellite Scan. However, like what Kirito said just now, as the electric pulses that were sent over by the satellite couldn't reach inside this hole, the map on the receiver wouldn't show any data.
The last tournament's battle royale started at 8pm, and it ended with the last survivor «Zekushiido» taking on «Yamikaze» and winning to put an end to this. The overall time was slightly more than 2 hours. Assuming that the progress rate was the same this time, there should be around 10 players left. In the last tournament, Sinon became the 8th casualty after merely 20 minutes, so this would far exceed her previous record. However, she wasn't happy at all.
Sinon put her left hand down, leaned her back on the cave wall and muttered,
"...Do you think... that «Death Gun» could have died in that explosion?"
She knew deep inside that there was only a minimal possibility, but couldn't help but ask for Kirito's view. After a while, Kirito answered softly,
"No... I saw him jump off the mechanical horse before the truck exploded. Though he couldn't be unscathed... I don't think he'll die like this..."
Any player who would get involved in such an explosion should have taken a lot of damage.
Any ordinary player maybe.
But that guy was definitely not ordinary. The mantle guy used the «Blackstar» to kill Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako, and Pale Rider was most likely dead. Maybe he was a wandering spirit in the network. However, Sinon obviously didn't say this out loud. She merely answered, "I see" , and then placed the Hecate onto the sandy floor beside her, cupping her knees together.
Sinon lowered her head and asked another question,
"How did you come and save me at the stadium so quickly just now? Didn't you reach the outside top wall?"
Kirito seemed to give a wry smile. Sinon looked beside her, and found that the lightsaber warrior was still leaning on the wall, both hands behind his head.
"...I knew we were mistaken the moment I saw that «Jyuushi X» whom we thought was Death Gun..."
"...Why?"
"Because that person looked like a real girl no matter what, not like this male character of mine which looks so feminine."
On hearing that somewhat unexpected answer, Sinon muttered "I see" . Kirito nodded his head slightly and gave a somewhat bitter expression.
"At that moment, I knew that we left out something very big... on thinking that Death Gun could attack you, I forced my way to slash her when she was introducing herself. I should apologize to her later.. On a side note, her name had to be pronounced as «Musketeer X»."
"Oh..."
Sinon again responded, and then guessed whether Kirito was going to apologize because his battle method was too forceful or that the other party was a girl. But just when she was about to ask, Kirito carried on,
"I took a hit, but still managed to take her down. Looking south from atop the stadium, I found you lying on the floor... Once I saw that things were bad, I immediately grabbed the large sniper rifle and smoke grenade Musketeer-san dropped and jumped from the perimeter. I fired and threw the grenade and then ran at that person..."
Kirito then shrugged at that moment, seemingly indicating 'you know the rest'.
In other words, the two bullet scars on Kirito were from Musketeer X's snipe and the L115 from Death Gun. Though he said that in a rather easy manner, the lightsaber warrior had been shot twice after defending flawlessly against Xiahou Dun, which showed that he didn't even care for his own safety when he went to save Sinon.
On the other hand—looking back at that situation, Sinon obviously pulled Kirito down. Even though Death Gun had the unexpected unique equipment «Metamaterial Optical Camouflage», Sinon could have dodged that stun bullet if she noticed the movement behind her. If she met up with Kirito without being paralyzed, they could even have used the chance to take down Death Gun.
Of course, that was if Death Gun wasn't a dead soul but an ordinary player.
Feeling troubled and weak, Sinon dejectedly rested her forehead on her kneecap. She felt Kirito close in and say in a soft voice,
"You don't have to be so hard on yourself."
"..."
Sinon sighed and waited for Kirito to continue.
"I didn't notice that that guy was hiding nearby too. If our roles were reversed, I would be the one who took the stun bullet—you would save me at that point too, right, Sinon?"
That voice was ever so steady—
Yet it made Sinon feel extremely hurt deep inside. She forcefully closed her eyes and muttered to herself.
This was a person she originally viewed as a rival... This enemy who she thought she could fight against actually said such encouraging words. Her failure, weakness were all seen by him... Right now, he just looked like he was appeasing a kid.
And what made Sinon unable to bear with this or even forgive herself was that while she felt extremely humiliated, she had a huge urge to accept his comfort.
Once she told her fears and pains that were tormenting her, and reach her hand out to this boy who's one meter away... That enigmatic lightsaber warrior who had such sincerity inside, would definitely comfort this Sinon in the game... The real Shino with all his earnesty and words. Maybe she could even get this «redemption» of that post office robbery incident 5 years ago from him.
If she did that, the other icy cold-like sniper Sinon may completely vanish. But speaking of which, how could she say her true thoughts to someone she just met yesterday—and doesn't even know his real appearance. Sinon had never said her true thoughts to even Shinkawa Kyouji, who was her friend for more than half a year.
As she was anxious, powerless, puzzled and messed up, the girl could only continue to hug her own knees.
Just like that, after a few seconds...
Kirito's voice finally rang again.
"...I'm going then. Just rest here first, Sinon. Actually, I was really hoping that you could log out... but you can't do so during the tournament..."
"Eh..."
Sinon lifted her face up instinctively. Kirito had already used the stone wall to support his body and checked the remaining amount of energy in the lightsaber.
"...You intend to fight... alone... against that Death Gun...?"
Once Sinon finished asking in a hoarse voice, the other person nodded slightly but firmly.
"Yeah. That guy is really strong. Even without the power of that black handgun, his equipment and stats were already a headache. Most importantly, the player's own ability was rather unique too. To be honest, it should be hard to take him down before the black handgun is fired. We were able to escape just now, but half of it was because it was a miracle. If we get aimed at by him... I don't have the confidence to face him courageously. I might even leave you and run away... so I can't take the risk of having you follow me."
"..."
Sinon originally thought that this lightsaber warrior was absolutely confident in his own abilities, so she couldn't help but look at his face after hearing this unexpected declaration. At this moment, a glint appeared in the black eyes, showing the insecurity he never had.
"...Even you are scared of that guy?"
On hearing Sinon's question, Kirito placed the lightsaber back onto the belt pouch and gave a bitter smile.
"Yeah, of course. If it was the old me... even if I knew that I could die, I would fight him with all I've got. But... I have a lot of things I want to protect now. So I can't die, I really don't want to die..."
"Something.. to protect...?"
"Yup. No matter whether it's the virtual world... or the real world."
He must be talking about the bonds with some people. Kirito was different from Sinon. He had lots of friends who felt the same as him. The girl felt a sharp pain inside her heart, and her words rushed out,
"...Then you might as well just hide here, right? We can't automatically log out in BoB, but we can leave when it's just us and someone else. Once we commit suicide to let the 3rd person win, the tournament will be over."
On hearing that, Kirito widened his eyes, but immediately smiled, said 'I see', and shook his head. Sinon already expected that he would have such a response.
"There is that method. But... I can't do that. Death Gun should be hiding somewhere and recovering his HP. If we let him go until the tournament ends, who knows how many people he will kill..."
"...I see."
"—You're really strong."
Even though he said that he had something he wanted to protect, he didn't lose any of his courage of risking his life to fight against the Death God. And I don't have these two things anymore.
Sinon could only smile weakly, thinking of what would happen to her once she left this battlefield.
Sinon had already lost all her courage once she faced that black handgun that Death Gun raised on the streets in the ruins. She cried many times as she escaped and couldn't even control her separate identity, the Hecate. The ice sniper Sinon was on the brink of disappearance.
If she continued to hide in the cave like this, she would never believe in her own ability again. Her heart would shrink, her fingers would stiffen, and it's unlikely that she would ever hit something again.
Forget about overcoming that memory, the real her in the real world would always worry about whether that man would appear from the shadows of the night streets or the gaps between the door. That would be the virtual and real worlds waiting for Sinon/Shino.
"...I..."
Sinon looked away from Kirito and said softly,
"I'm... not running away."
"...Eh?"
"I'm not running away. I've decided not to hide around. I want to go out and fight that guy."
Kirito frowned, bent his upper body over to Sinon and whispered,
"You can't Sinon. Once you get hit by that guy...you may really die. I'm not just a complete melee-type player, I also have defensive skills. You're different. Your predicament would be far more dangerous than mine if that invisible man attacks."
Sinon shut her mouth for the moment, but soon after, spoke up and concluded.
"It doesn't matter even if I die."
"...Eh..."
Kirito widened his eyes again, and Sinon said slowly,
"...Just now... I was really scared. Really scared that I would end up dying like that. I got weaker than how I was 5 years ago... I even embarrassed myself by screaming... I can't take this. If this lingers on anymore, I might as well die!"
"...It's normal to be scared. Who's not afraid of death?"
"I'm sick of being scared. I'm sick of living in fear... I'm sick of it— I'm not going to ask you to accompany me, I can fight on my own."
After saying that, Sinon's weak arm started to exert force and got ready to get up. However, that arm was grabbed by Kirito beside her. He asked softly with a nervous voice,
"You're saying that you want to fight alone and die alone...?"
"...That's right. This is likely my fate..."
She made a cardinal sin, but wasn't punished for it. Thus, that man would come back to give her the punishment. Death Gun wasn't a dead soul—but a cause and effect. This was already decided.
"Let go of me... I've got to go..."
Sinon tried to shake off Kirito's hand again, but he grabbed her with even more force.
The black eyes were sparkling. Those small and beautiful lips exploded with such intense words that didn't fit the perfect appearance at all,
"...You're wrong. No one will die alone. Once someone dies, his position in someone's heart will vanish too. My heart already has your existence, Sinon!"
"It's not like I asked you to remember me... I, I never hoped to have a relationship with anyone!"
"But haven't we made contact with each other?"
Kirito raised Sinon's hand and moved it in front of her.
At this moment, the intense emotions that were suppressed inside Sinon's icy heart suddenly exploded. She gritted her teeth and used that other hand to grab Kirito's collar.
"Then..."
The weakness of wanting to be comforted and the urge to be destroyed created a feeling she never had before, causing her to say these words out from deep within her. Sinon's fiery gaze stared at Kirito's face and screamed,
"—THEN PROTECT ME FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"
Her eyes suddenly twisted, and there was something hot flowing down her face. Sinon then noticed that tears were already flowing out from her eyes, dripping.
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She shook aside the right hand that was being held and forcefully clenched her fist to slam at Kirito's chest. Twice, thrice, she exerted all her strength onto Kirito's body.
"You don't know anything at all... couldn't do anything, so stop acting like you know what's going on! This... this is my battle, only mine! Even if I lose, even if I die, no one has the right to lecture me! Or rather, are you going to bear this responsibility with me? Can you..."
The right hand Sinon was just holding reached out in front of Kirito. This hand once squeezed the trigger of a gun that was dyed in blood and took someone's life. Looking closely at the skin on it, she could only see that this hand that once killed before still had the little black dot that was caused by the gunpowder particles.
"Can... CAN YOU HOLD THIS HAND THAT KILLED SOMEONE BEFORE!?"
Lines of curses awakened from deep within Sinon's memories. In the classroom, she would hear 'Don't touch it, you murderer! You'll stain it with blood' when she accidentally touched other people's personal belongings. Ever since that incident, Sinon never let anyone touch her, not even once.
Sinon used the last of her strength to swing a punch. As the entire island was in a battlefield that wasn't protected, every single time Kirito got punched, his HP would decrease little by little. However, he didn't do anything to evade.
"U...uu..."
Sinon's tears fell like rain, and she couldn't control them. She immediately lowered her head to prevent others from seeing her crying face, and in the end, her forehead ended up hitting Kirito's chest.
Her left hand was still grabbing onto Kirito's collar, leaning her forehead onto Kirito's chest with all she had, letting out a crying sound from between the gritted teeth. Sinon was crying like a kid, but she found it inexplicable that she actually had the ability to do this. She couldn't remember the last time she cried in front of someone.
Soon after, Kirito placed his hand on her right shoulder. However, Sinon immediately clenched her fist and swept his hand aside.
"I HATE YOU... I HATE YOU THE MOST!!"
As she screamed, the imaginary tears continued to float, and they were finally absorbed by Kirito's thin chest.
It was unknown how long they maintained this position—
Sinon's tears finally went dry, and she felt weak all over as if her soul was scattered, and could only rest her entire body on the lightsaber warrior's slender body.
After having exposed the feelings she would definitely not allow herself to reveal, the slight pain that came with it felt extremely soothing. She then continued to put her head on the other person's shoulder and continued to pant.
After a while, Sinon broke the silence.
"...You're really irritating... but at least let me lean on you."
After she said that, Kirito merely answered 'ok'. Sinon then moved her body and laid down horizontally on the legs Kirito stretched out. As she was still embarrassed about letting Kirito see her face, Sinon turned her back to Kirito and saw the bullet scar that was still left on the rear right side of the three-wheeler buggy's rear fender, and the last trace of sunset that crept in from outside the cave.
Her mind was still confused, but it was different from how her mind stopped when she was attacked by Death Gun; it was a seemingly relaxed feeling. Unknowingly, she let out a sentence,
"I... I've killed someone before."
Sinon continued without waiting for Kirito's response,
"Not in the game... but in the real world. I really killed someone. The cause was the robbery that happened in the suburb in the northeast 5 years ago... The news reported that the culprit shot a mailman and died after the gun chamber exploded. But in fact, that wasn't true. I was at the scene. I snatched the culprit's gun and shot him."
"...5 years ago...?"
On hearing Kirito mutter his question, Sinon nodded her head.
"Yes. I was 11 then... maybe I could do that because I was a kid then. I had two broken teeth, two sprains on the arms, a back injury and a dislocation of the right shoulder, but had no other injury. The damage my body took could be healed... but there was a place that couldn't be healed."
"..."
"After that, I would vomit or faint once I saw a gun. Even on the TV, in the manga... or a fake pistol won't do. Once I see a guy... my eyes will immediately remember the face of that guy I killed... It was scary. Really scary."
"...But."
"Yeah. But it's alright in this world. The relapse wouldn't happen... and I even liked..."
Sinon moved her eyes away, looking at the elegant figure of the Hecate II that was lying on the sand,
"...A few guns. So I felt that if I became the strongest in this world, I would become strong in the real world and could forget about those memories... but... when Death Gun attacked just now... I nearly relapsed... that, that was really scary... Unknowingly, I wasn't the «Sinon» in the game but the me in the real world... so I have to fight with that guy. If I can't beat him... Sinon will vanish."
She hugged her own body tightly.
"Of course I'm scared of death. But... but if I continue to live in fear, I'll be scared even when I'm dead. If I run away without fighting against Death Gun and those memories, I will definitely become weaker than before, and I will never be able to live an ordinary life again. So... so..."
Suddenly, a chilly air struck, causing Sinon to tremble violently. At this moment...
"I..."
Unknowingly, Kirito started stammering like a weak kid who didn't know what to do,
"I...I killed people before."
"Eh..."
Sinon, who was leaning tightly onto Kirito, felt his body tremble for a split moment.
"...I did mention it before, right? That mantle guy and I... Death Gun, we met in another game before."
"...Y-Yeah."
"That game was called... «Sword Art Online». Have you heard of it... before?"
"..."
Sinon already guessed the name of the game, but couldn't help but look up at Kirito's face. The lightsaber warrior leaned his back on the wall of the cave, and his eyes that lost all glow were looking above.
Of course, Sinon knew the name of that game. Or rather, there was not any VRMMO player in all of Japan who would not know about that game. That terrifying game trapped the consciousness of 10,000 people inside the game world for more than 2 years, and even took the lives of 4,000 people.
"...Then, you're..."
"That's right, in terms of internet speak, I'm a so-called «SAO Survivor». That Death Gun is the same too. Both him and I fought each other, and we tried to kill each other."
Kirito's eyes looked like they were looking afar in the distant past, moving about in mid-air.
"That guy was part of a Red guild called «Laughing Coffin». In SAO, we designate colors and call criminals «Orange Players», and thief guilds would be «Orange Guilds»...amongst them, those who revel in killing were called «Red Guilds». Those guilds...had a lot of people who enjoyed killing people."
"Bu-But...in that game, wouldn't it mean real death if your HP becomes zero...?"
"That's right, but they killed because of that reason... To certain players, killing was their greatest pleasure. Laughing Coffin was such a group. They killed other players in unprotected battlefields or mazes, took their money and equipment before killing them mercilessly. Of course, the ordinary players started to be wary of them, but these people still continued to think of new ways to kill, causing the number of victims to continue to rise."
"..."
"Thus, the ordinary players finally formed mass-crusades against them...and I was one of them. It was a crusade, but we didn't really need to kill them. We just wanted them to be unable to resist before sending them to jail. We tried all we could to find their base, gathered many high-leveled players who would not have any problems and launched our raid at midnight. However... I don't know how the info was leaked. The enemy had already set traps in the base and waited for us to enter...we finally managed to regroup ourselves, but in this abnormally chaotic battle...I..."
Kirito's body trembled violently again. He widened his eyes, and his breathing became harder.
"I personally killed two Laughing Coffin members. One by hacking him on the head with my sword...the other was a stab right in the heart. I only planned to lock them inside jail, but I forgot all about it and just lost myself...no, that was just an excuse. If I really wanted to, I could definitely stop my sword...but I could only continue to swing my sword in fear and anger, and to be honest, I'm no different from those guys. No, in a certain sense, my guilt is greater than them because..."
Kirito forcefully took a deep breath before exhaling, and silently continued,
"Because I forced myself to forget what I previously did. I killed another member a long time after I killed those two people...and once I returned back to the real world, I never thought of them. That was until I met Death Gun at the presidential area waiting dome..."
"...Then, Death Gun is part of that group you fought against...«Laughing Coffin»..."
"Yes. He should be one of the members who survived in the raid and was locked up by us. I still remember his presence and how he spoke. Just a little...a little more, and I can remember his name from back then..."
This time, he forcefully closed his eyes and used his right fist to press against his forehead. Sinon, who was lying on Kirito's knees, stared at him for quite a while.
This boy called Kirito was once a player of «Sword Art Online».
He gambled his real life in that world and continued to fight for two years.
Sinon herself could guess this already, but it was still strangely heavy-hearted to hear him say this. She could still remember Kirito's question yesterday from deep inside her ears.
—If your bullet can really kill a player in the real world...and he would kill you or someone else close to you if you don't kill him, can you still squeeze the trigger without hesitation in such a situation?
Kirito was a person who went through that. In a certain sense, this was extremely similar to the post office robbery incident where Shino was attacked 5 years ago—
"...Kirito."
Sinon supported her body and forcefully grabbed Kirito on the shoulders. The boy's eyes looked somewhat lost as if he was looking somewhere distant in the past. However, Sinon still brought her face close to force the other party to look at her, and said with a hoarse voice,
"...I can't judge what you did in the past...and I don't have the right to. So actually, I don't have the right to say this...but please tell me...how did you overcome those memories? How did you beat it? How did you become so strong...?"
This was really a rather cruel and selfish thing to say to someone who just revealed his own guilt. However, Sinon really couldn't stop herself from asking. Though Kirito was so self-loathing that he 'forced himself to forget', she couldn't do that.
However—
Kirito blinked twice, thrice, a few times and stared at Sinon's eyes, and he then shook his head and said,
"...I didn't overcome it."
"Eh..."
"Last night, I continued to remember that battle against Laughing Coffin and the 3 people who died under my blade, and I nearly couldn't sleep at all. Those people, when they were about to disappear...their expressions, voices, last words, I guess I wouldn't be able to forget about them..."
"How...how is it..."
Sinon could only mutter blankly,
"Then...wha...what am I supposed to do...I...I..."
'—Am I going to be like this for the rest of my life?
This declaration was really too cruel to her.
Was all her hard work wasted? Wouldn't that mean that even if they left this cave, beat Death Gun and win, Shino in the current world would have to continue to live in pain—was that it...?
"However, Sinon—"
Kirito moved his right hand and covered one of Sinon's hands that were grabbing his shoulders.
"I feel that it's normal. I lost my sanity and killed with my own two hands, but I got praised instead of being punished. Nobody wanted to judge me, and nobody taught me a way to redeem myself. Up till now, I had never really looked at what I did, and just forced myself to forget. But I was wrong. The fact that I did that, I personally slayed them with these hands of mine...I should accept them directly, consider the significance and seriousness. Right now, I feel that this is the least I could do to compensate within my abilities..."
"...Accepting...and reflecting on them...I can't do that..."
"No matter how you try to distance yourself from it, the past will never disappear, and our memories will never really vanish. Even so...we can only face it head on and work hard so that we can one day accept it."
"..."
Sinon's arms lost their strength and she collapsed onto Kirito, who was lying down. She leaned her back and head onto Kirito and looked up at the roof of the cave.
To face that memory head on and fight; Sinon didn't think that she could do that. The path Kirito found belonged only to him, and she needed to find another way to settle her own problems. Even though Sinon thought of these, Kirito's words finally broke through one trouble of hers. The sniper girl turned her eyes to the face that was rather pale in that slightly dark place, and then said,
"...«Death Gun»..."
"Hm?"
"So that guy under the mantle was a real person after all."
"Of course. He's definitely one of the top players of the ex-«Laughing Coffin». If I can remember his name in SAO, I can find his real name and address in the real world. To be honest, this is the real reason why I came to this world."
"...I see..."
At least she knew that the mantle guy wasn't a lingering dead soul that awoke in Sinon's memories. She frowned, thought and continued,
"So that guy couldn't forget about what happened in SAO, wanted to PK and came over to GGO...?"
"I don't think that was merely the case...that guy chose to take action when many people were looking, no matter whether he was shooting «Zekushiido», «Usujio Tarako» or eliminating «Pale Rider». That exaggerated Cross sign was performed to an unspecified lot of audience. He should be indicating...that he had the ability to kill in the game..."
"...But how did he do it...between the AmuSphere and the first generation...Nerve Gear, was it? The AmuSphere was different from the first generation, right, so it was designed not to let out dangerous electromagnetic waves, right?"
"That should be the case...but, according to the person who requested me to come to this world, the cause of death on Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako wasn't brain damage, but heart failure..."
"Eh...heart...?"
On raising this question, Sinon felt a chill brush past, making her tremble slightly. Even though she felt that it wasn't really possible, she wanted to say out what she thought.
"...You're saying that...he used some curse or supernatural power...to kill them...?"
Sinon felt that she would be laughed at if she said it, but Kirito merely looked back at her with a tense expression.
"To be honest...I won't know how he killed them without knowing the player controlling the mantle avatar in the real world and investigating him. I don't think that randomly shooting in the virtual world would make a player's heart in the real world stop...no, wait...speaking of which...."
This may be a habit Kirito had as he used his fingers to stroke his slender chin and shut up. On seeing Sinon giving him a puzzled look while lying on his knees, he said with an ambiguous expression,
"...That's really strange..."
"What's strange...?"
"In the ruins just now, why did Death Gun not use that black handgun to shoot me and use that sniper rifle instead? We were really close just now, and the handgun should be more powerful, right? Besides, it could kill the enemy in one shot. To be honest, I couldn't even dodge a sniper shot. If that guy used the black handgun, I should be killed by him already..."
Though it was somewhat shocking to see him have the courage to consider the possibility of his own death, Sinon still said her thoughts,
"Maybe it's because there was no time to draw the Cross...? Before shooting the Blackstar...ah, that handgun's called «Type-54 Blackstar»..."
Feeling suffocated the moment she said this name, Sinon continued,.
"...Does he have to draw the Cross before firing the Blackstar, or was it that he couldn't kill if he didn't complete the Cross...?"
"Yeah...but when we were running away, that guy did use the Blackstar to shoot you, right? How could he draw the Cross on the horse?"
The moment Kirito said that, Sinon glanced at the three-wheeler buggy beside her. The bullet scar on the rear fender wasn't the .338 Lapua Magnum, but the smaller 7.62mm bullet. Speaking of which, Sinon herself did see Death Gun pull the Blackstar and shoot without drawing the cross.
"That's true...it did happen."
"In other words, Death Gun did have the chance to kill me, but didn't shoot at me. No, he doesn't have any reason to let me go. I won in the preliminaries...to be honest, I'm the more eye-catching one..."
"Sorry for not being so attractive looking."
Sinon gave a left elbow jab at Kirito's abdomen and made him cough dryly.
"Then, let's make it that both of us are eye catching. But anyway, it's not that the guy didn't shoot me, but that there was a reason why he didn't do so..."
"Hmm..."
Sinon moved her body and slumped on Kirito's legs, putting her cupped hands onto her head. Even though the annoyance she had with the boy never decreased, right now, she needed the heat transfer between avatars to chase the black fear away from her. Feeling somewhat safe now, she slowly gained back her peaceful mind and continued to think.
"...Speaking of which, something was weird just now...."
"Just now?"
"At that metal bridge. That guy did use the Blackstar to shoot Pale Rider, yet ignored Dyne who was left helpless beside, right? I thought Dyne would be shot too..."
"Yes...but he was already dead that time, right?"
"He was dead, but actually, it was just that his HP was zero and that he could not move. His avatar was still there, so his own consciousness was still there. If it's a power that exceeds the game, it doesn't matter if the HP was there or not, right?"
On hearing Sinon mention that, Kirito pondered for a while and then said,
"...That's true. It's weird now that you mentioned it. Like the ruins just now, Death Gun only attacked Pale Rider and not Dyne at the bridge..."
"In other words...you and Dyne, Pale Rider and me, we have common points. This player designates between those who he could attack and those he couldn't attack..."
Sinon pondered and muttered. Kirito nodded his head, and the shaking reached her body.
"Yeah, you can put it that way. If we think through it, Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako should have similar conditions to you and Pale Rider...maybe it's ability or ranking..."
"Pale Rider is strong, but he didn't take part in the last tournament. As for BoB ranking, Dyne was in front of me."
"Then...maybe it's because of another specific event?"
"I don't think so. Dyne and I were in the same squadron, so we trained together a few times. But I'd never even heard of Pale Rider's name, let alone met him."
"What about Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako?"
On hearing Kirito's question, Sinon could only turn her body over and give a wry smile. She looked at the serious expression on that pretty face, shrugged her shoulders and answered,
"Those two were famous, on a completely different level from Dyne and me...Zekushiido was the winner of the last tournament, so Usujio Tarako was 5th or 6th, but he was the leader of the largest squadron in this game. I only talked to him once or twice."
"Uu...Then, it should be equipment or stats..."
"Our equipment are all different. You know that I use a sniper rifle, and Pale Rider uses a shotgun. Zekushiido probably uses the extremely rare XM29 assault rifle, and Usujio Tarako uses the light machine gun Enfield. As for stats...ah."
"Hm?"
Sinon seemed like she wanted to explain to the puzzled Kirito as she touched her eyebrows before continuing.
"It's not really a common point...if I have to say it, it's «all those who don't focus on AGI» But that's a little far-fetched...some of us focus on STR, and some focus on VIT..."
"Yeah..."
Kirito curled his beautiful lips and continued to scratch his head.
"So he just randomly picked targets without reason, is it...for some reason...I feel that there's a certain reason...did you say that you once talked to Usujio Tarako? What did you say to him?"
"Well..."
Sinon racked her thinned memory as she cupped her hands between her head and Kirito's legs to act as a pillow. This should be a form of a lap pillow, right? Thinking that, she started to feel embarrassed. But still, she shook her embarrassment aside with an excuse 'it's urgent now'.
Thinking about it carefully, she found that she realized that she never touched other people like that for so long. It was like she put the burden in heart together with her own weight on him, and her heart just felt unbelievably safe. Just when Sinon secretly hoped that this could continue, the seemingly weak smile of Shinkawa Kyouji suddenly appeared in her mind, which made her rather sorry. If she could return safely to the real world, she would open her walled up heart to him and talk with him...
"—Oi, Sinon, what's with you and Usujio Tarako..."
"Ah, um...yeah."
Sinon blinked and shook that fleeting thought away before searching that distant memory of hers again.
"...We really talked only a little bit. I remember...after the last tournament, once we returned to the first level of the presidential building, I met him at the entrance. We started talking for about 2, 3 minutes, about what prize we want...I never met him directly in the battlefield, so that was just random banter."
"I see. Death Gun never appeared in the last tournament... Was he angry that he didn't get the prize...? It doesn't seem useful to speculate about baseless things."
Kirito sighed. He blinked a few times to change his mood and then lowered his head to look at Sinon.
"Speaking of which, I never checked out the prizes...what did you get in the end?"
On hearing Kirito suddenly change the topic, Sinon was somewhat impressed that he would want to know about the prizes at this moment and answered,
"Ah~that could be chosen. We could choose according to our ranking...our rankings are rather good this time, so we should be able to get something good. Of course, we have to get back safely."
"Like what?"
"Of course, guns and defense equipment...or else it would be unique colored dyes or clothing that people can't buy. However, it doesn't seem to be really good, just catchy-looking. They would even send model guns from the game."
"Model guns? In other words, not equipment in the games, but something you can get in the real world?"
"Yeah. I got a really low rank during the last tournament, so I couldn't get any great equipment. I chose the model gun. Speaking of which, Usujio Tarako said that he chose a model gun too...it was just a toy, but it used metal, and the finishing was very good. Shin...Spiegel said this to me. But I..."
On remembering the pathetic state of the model gun she held in her hands a few days ago, Sinon's face couldn't help but give a wry smile.
"—I always kept it inside the drawer and never looked at it carefully."
But Kirito seemed to notice something else and didn't notice the expression on Sinon's face.
"Getting a prize...in the real world...?"
He first whispered to himself softly, and then said in a serious tone.
"That model gun was sent over by the operating company from America, right?"
"Yeah, through EMS, so a lot of shipping fees must be involved. Can Zasker really earn money like this...?"
The moment Sinon finished saying that, she looked at Kirito's face—but couldn't help but blink. She saw the lightsaber warrior biting his lips and looking up at a certain point. It didn't seem that he was thinking about what prize he could get.
"Wha...what's wrong? What are you thinking?"
"...EMS... but—when I logged into GGO a while back, the system only requested for the player to provide the email, gender and age for our particulars. How did the operating company know about the participants' addresses...?"
"Have you forgotten?"
Sinon, who was lying down, raised her hands in a somewhat impatient manner.
"During the BoB preliminaries yesterday. When we had to register at the operating machine at the first level of the presidential building, there was also a blank line to fill our real addresses and names, right? There should be other terms and conditions there. We can register without filling in the address, but we may be unable to get our prizes. You didn't fill it up, right? You can't fill it later, so you can't get the model gun—eh, eh?"
Kirito suddenly placed his hand on Sinon's right shoulder and then brought his face over, causing her to make a strange sound. The girl froze as she thought that this person was about to do something shameful, but of course, that wasn't the case—
The lightsaber warrior gave a serious expression like never before and raised a new question. But Sinon couldn't understand the importance of this question.
"What did Dyne get in the last tournament?"
"We-well... I remember it was equipment in the game. He once showed it to me before, a coat that had ridiculous colors."
"What about Zekushiido?"
"Who-who knows... He never talked to me before. How could I know? But...I heard that the person himself demands on efficiency, so it shouldn't be appearance and stuff. Speaking of which, he could have chosen the model gun too. I heard that the champion and third place could get a large sniper rifle. But...so what?"
However, Kirito didn't answer her question, and merely watched Sinon's eyes before sinking into deep thought.
"Not equipment in the virtual world...a model gun in the real world...if this is the common point between Sinon, Pale Rider, Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako...EMS addresses...machine at the presidential estate...that place was..."
Kirito seemed to be daydreaming as he continued to murmur,
"...Optical camouflage...if...it wasn't just on the practice field..."
The hand Kirito placed on Sinon's right shoulder suddenly became as stiff as stone. He widened his eyes, and his black eyes continued to roll. The expression shown in his eyes was—shock? Or was it fear?
Sinon couldn't help but straighten her back and shout,
"WHA...WHAT HAPPENED. WHAT'S GOING ON?"
"Ahh...so it's like this...so it was like this!"
A deep hoarse voice came out from between the bright red bewitching lips,
"I've...made a grave mistake..."
"Mis-Mistake?"
"...That when playing VRMMOs...the player's consciousness is moved from the real world to the virtual world, and the player then talks, runs and fights inside...so I thought Death Gun most probably killed his targets in this world..."
"That...that's wrong...?"
"No, the player's body and heart doesn't move. What's different about the virtual world from the real world is that only the brain accepts lots of information. The players wearing the AmuSphere merely sees and hears the electric signals being transferred into digital images and sound effects."
"So...Zekushiido and the rest died at where the corpses were, inside their own rooms. And the real killer was at those places..."
"Wha...what in the world are you trying to say...?"
Kirito immediately closed his lips and opened them again. The voice and presence he gave next seemed to reflect his inner fear as it became a freezing air that brushed past Sinon's face.
"«There're two killers» The first one...that mantle guy attacks his target in the game. The second person had already entered the target's room in the real world, and will attack the helpless players at the same time."
Sinon couldn't immediately understand what Kirito meant when he said that. She raised her upper body weakly, went into a dazed phase before shaking her head in an interrupted manner, and then continued,
"But...how...how can that be possible? How do they know the addresses of the players...?"
"Didn't you say it before? A model gun was sent to your house?"
"Then...then the culprit is the operating company...? Or Death Gun hacked into the database...?"
"No....that possibility is too small. Even if it was just an ordinary player, he could still know the address of the real target. Once that target is a participant of the BoB tournament, and if the player chose a model gun..."
"..."
"The presidential building. The players who hope for the operating company to send the model guns to them would input their real name and address over there, right? I was a little worried when I registered... Wasn't it a single room, with a large open space behind, right...?"
Sinon finally understood what Kirito was getting at and could only hold her breath and shake her head.
"You're saying...that he saw the image on the screen from behind? That's impossible. With the distance effect, he won't be able to see the words once there's some distance, and someone will notice him if he was so close."
"But what if he used a scope or binoculars? Someone I knew before said that she used a mirror to read the button code in the game. If I look through some item, I can negate the distance effect, right?"
"What you're saying is impossible. If so many people use some binoculars that way, they would be kicked out by the GM and banned. This is an American game. It's rather strict with this like how it is with regards to sexual harassment."
But Kirito seemed to know how to argue back at this. The lightsaber warrior brought his face closer and then used a soft voice to raise his guess.
"If... What if, that mantle of Death Gun...that «Metamaterial Optical Camouflage» can also work inside the city? The presidential lounge is rather dark. Nobody would discover if they became transparent and hid in the shadows, right? In that situation, if someone uses binoculars or a scope to spy on the screen image...it's possible to spot the address and real name in the entered data, right...?"
"...!"
Invisibility—scope. With these two things, it was possible to do so. Basically, the game menu window on default is that others couldn't see it, but the touchscreen-type terminals in the game could be used by many people, so on the default mode anyone could see the contents. Sinon herself did input her address and name when she registered for the last tournament and this tournament with the anyone-can-see mode. Was someone...no, rather, that Death God wearing the mantle hiding behind her back then? Just to write down other people's names on the list of death?
Sinon really couldn't accept this guess, and thus she continued to try and argue back.
"...Even if they know our addresses in the real world...how can they enter our rooms without a key? And, what about their families...?"
"If it's just Zekushiido and Usujio Tarako, both of them were living alone...and they were staying in old apartments. I guess what's installed on the doors were first generation electric locks which weren't really safe. Also, when diving into GGO, the real physical body would be in an unconscious state. Thus, no matter how much effort he had to use to enter, he wouldn't worry about being discovered..."
Kirito's words made Sinon gasp.
Ordinary houses were only installed with the electric keyless sensor lock like those on cars 7 to 8 years ago. Though it couldn't be broken through physically, the first generation locks' electrowaves were cracked and installed into an opening mechanism, making this device seem like some master key that can unlock all sorts of doors. Sinon remembered from the news in the past that this device could be sold for a high price in the black market. After that, Sinon bought a metal lock and an entrance keypad beside the electric lock, but still couldn't remove that uneasiness on her back.
«Death Gun» wasn't some dead soul that was resurrected from her past memories, and neither was he a game character with a mysterious ability, but a real killer.
As this reasoning continued, the realism came with it, and Sinon's heart started to create another fear that was different from just now. She felt pressured by this resistance she couldn't explain, and said out the final argument she could think of,
"Th-Then...the cause of death? You said it was heart failure, right? Was there something that could cause the heart to stop and fool the police and pathologists?"
"Maybe they inserted some drug..."
"Then...then they could just investigate to check it out, right? Like some traces of drugs that were injected..."
"...The corpses were only found after a few days, so the rotting was rather serious. And... unfortunately, there are many incidents where hardcore VRMMO players die of heart failure. They often won't eat and would only lie on the bed...if the room wasn't broken into or if there wasn't any money stolen, there would be a high chance that it would be determined to be natural death. The police seemed to have investigated the head of deceased, but they probably never thought that some drugs would be administered...if they never investigated this right from the start, it's unlikely for them to find this evidence."
"...How is it possible..."
Sinon used both hands to grab Kirito's jacket, continuing to shake her head like some disobedient kid.
Planning so hard just to kill people meaninglessly—she really couldn't understand the mental state of the person. Sinon could only feel a huge evil intent in that unlimited darkness.
"That's crazy..."
On hearing Sinon mutter, Kirito nodded his head as well.
"Yeeah...it is crazy. I can't understand it, but I think I could imagine why he wanted to do this. This guy spent so much effort probably to maintain his identity as a «Red Player». I...I could also feel that I was still a «swordsman» fighting on the front lines in Aincrad..."
Sinon immediately imagined—that name that she never heard before should be the floating city in the stage called «Sword Art Online». Immediately she forgot her own fear and nodded her own head.
"...I can understand...I can often see myself as a sniper...but if it's not just that mantle guy, who is his accomplice....?"
"Yeah, I think there's a high chance that the guy is most likely an SAO Survivor. Also, he may be a remnant of «Laughing Coffin»...both of them must work together flawlessly to accomplish such a killer plan...ah, don't tell me..."
Sinon's eyes immediately seemed to be asking Kirito who looked like he discovered something.
"Nothing, it wasn't anything much...it's just that, the Cross action that mantle guy drew...wasn't just to show off to the audience, but also some trick to check the time on his watch. He has to plan the «crime moment» together with his accomplice in the real world. But it would be too unnatural to look at the watch before firing."
"I see...if a mini-watch is on the inside of the wrist, it would be right in front of the eye once it touches the head..."
Sinon finally agreed with this assumption and nodded her head—
Her shoulders were suddenly grabbed by Kirito in front of her. He slowly opened his mouth and gave an even more serious expression,
"Sinon—do you, live alone?"
"Y...Yeah."
"Did you lock up the door and put the chain on?"
"I lock the door other than the electronic lock...but my house is the initial version...as for the chain..."
Sinon frowned and continued to search her memory before she dived in.
"...Maybe I didn't lock up."
"I see...then listen to me!"
As Sinon had never seen Kirito look so worried, her chest immediately felt like it was stuffed with ice blocks and had a chilly feeling throughout her deep inside.
No, I don't want to listen on— though she thought this way, the lips in front of her had no intention of stopping and said something shocking,
"At the ruins, when we were at the stadium, Death Gun already intended to use that gun after you were stunned. And...he really shot the gun at you when he used the mechanical horse. In other words...they were ready."
"Ready...what..."
Sinon asked in a voice which nearly couldn't be heard. Kirito himself nodded and answered softly,
"...Right now, at this moment—perhaps, the accomplice of Death Gun in the real world entered your room, and is waiting for the image of when the gun hits you."
After a long while, Sinon's consciousness finally comprehended what Kirito was saying.
The image around her immediately became blurry. The familiar scene of her room appeared in her mind. She was looking down at her 6mat room like it was an illusion.
The wooden floor tiles that were often vacuumed, the light yellow floor mat, the little wooden table.
The black table lined together with the similarly black pipe bed, facing the wall on the west. The bedsheet was completely white, with herself, still lying on the bed in a sweatshirt and shorts. At this moment, her eyes were closed, and there was a machine on her forehead that was made from twin-layered metal rings. Other than that—
There was also a black shadow stealthly standing there, watching Shino who was dived in. That person who was covered in black completely like a silhouette, but there was a single object that could be seen clearly, in his right hand. It was of a cylindrical shape and made of translucent glass, with a silver needle at its tip—a syringe full of deathly liquid.
"No...no..."
Sinon turned her neck and moaned. Even if the illusion was gone and she returned back to the cave, the glint of the needle in the intruder's hand was still in her eyes.
"No...that..."
This wasn't just the simple emotion of 'fear'. The intense emotion to resist should be running all over inside her body, causing her to continue to tremble. She couldn't move, and couldn't look around her. She was that weak, yet there was someone she didn't know watching her inside her room. No—that wasn't just it. That person could be touching the skin...looking for the place to inject...
There was a sudden blockage feeling deep inside Sinon's throat, causing her to be unable to breathe. She straightened her back and continued to gasp for air.
"Ah...ahhh..."
The light was leaving her, getting further and further away. A rumbling cry rang in her ears. Her 'soul' seemed like it wanted to leave her virtual body—
"No, Sinon!"
Her wrists were suddenly held forcefully, and there was a shocking voice that rang beside her.
"It's dangerous to auto log out now! Let's do our best...calm down! It's alright. You're not in danger yet!"
"Ah...ahh..."
Sinon opened her eyes that couldn't seem to concentrate, and her arms continued to flail. Finally, she got the person who let the voice out. Her arms were wrapped around the body which had warmth, only wanting to hug that person.
She immediately had this strong and forceful arm grab her back, exerting even more force to steady her. And the other hand reached out, gently stroking Sinon's hair.
The murmuring rang again,
"Before Death Gun's handgun...the «Blackstar» hits you, the intruder can't hurt you. That's the limitation these guys set. But if you log out because of your heart rate or a change in body temperature, there will be danger when you see the intruder's face. So you have to calm down first."
"But...but...it's scary...really scary..."
Sinon continued to cry like a kid and buried her face in Kirito's chest.
As the girl forcefully grabbed Kirito tightly, there was a weak but regular heartbeat from that person.
Sinon continued to try her best to listen to this sound to chase away the terrifying image in her mind. Tokun, tokun, almost a second each worth of heartbeat entered her body. Sinon's crazily beating heart finally went back to being like a regular beat.
As she recovered, she realized that she seemed to be on the same mental wavelength as Kirito, and her fear left her slightly. Even though the fear within her didn't vanish, the sanity that was enough to suppress these emotions was recovering.
"...Have you calmed down yet?"
Behind her, Kirito's deep voice rang as his hand was about to leave Sinon's back. However, Sinon shook her head slightly and said softly,
"Let's just leave it like this for the time being...alright..."
Though she didn't hear the reply, the girl's body again felt the other party hugging her. Every time the slender hand patted her head, there was a warm feeling that was melting the frozen heart of hers bit by bit. Sinon took a deep breath, closed her eyes and relaxed her body.
After maintaining that position for several seconds, she blurted,
"...Your hand, it feels like my mother's..."
"Mo-Mother's? Not like your dad?"
"I have no impression of my dad. He died in an accident when I was a baby."
"I see..."
Kirito's answer was rather short. Sinon forcefully brought her face near Kirito's chest,
Sword Art Online Vol 06 -236.jpeg
"—Tell me. What should we do?"
Her voice was sturdier than what she imagined. Kirito stopped the hand that was patting Sinon's hair and immediately answered her,
"We'll take Death Gun down. With that, the accomplice who's ready to kill you in the real world can't do anything and leave. But you just need to stay here. I'll fight. That guy's handgun can't kill me."
"Is that...really alright?"
"Yeah. I didn't state my name and address when I registered, and I didn't dive in at my own house, and there's even someone beside me. Thus, I'm alright. I just need to beat that guy who broke the rules."
"But...even without that «Blackstar», that mantle guy is tough. You saw him dodge the Hecate's snipe even with a distance of 100m? Maybe he can match you if it's just dodging ability alone."
"Truthfully, I don't have the confidence to say that I'll definitely win...but the remaining choice, like what you said—we'll hide here all this time until there are 3 people, and both of us commit suicide..."
At this moment, Kirito glanced at the watch and Sinon looked at it too. It's 9:40pm. Unknowingly, the scan at 9:30 passed through. It's been about 25 minutes ever since they escaped to this hole.
Sinon looked at Kirito's face and then shook her head slightly,
"I probably can't hide here any longer. The other players should have noticed that we're hiding in a desert cave. There aren't many of them, so we may end up having grenade attacks. Or rather, we've been lucky that we were safe for 30 minutes."
"—I see..."
Kirito bit his lower lip and looked at the entrance of the cave. Sinon watched the side of his face silently and said,
"Since both of us worked together till now, let's just fight together until the end."
"...But...if you're hit by that handgun..."
"That thing was just an old single action handgun."
Sinon was more or less shocked that these words came straight out of her own mouth. That's because that handgun—the «Type-54 Blackstar» was always the sign of the fear that tormented her.
No, the fear never vanished. If it was just a coincidence that Death Gun chose the Blackstar as his split personality, that gun would be the curse Sinon could never shake off. However, at least in this game, the Type-54 handgun wasn't some powerful weapon. It was the increase in fear in her own heart that made her really afraid, that made her lose her original fighting ability.
"—Even if he shoots me, you'll just use that blade to easily knock those bullets back away for me, right? Besides, its rapid fire rate is several times less than an assault rifle."
On seeing Sinon suppress her own trembling and finish what she wanted to say, Kirito gave her a smile that had worry and relief in them.
"Good...I won't let him hit you. But for safety reasons, you better not appear in front of Death Gun."
After using his hand to stop Sinon who was about to argue back, Kirito continued,
"No, I'm definitely willing to fight with you. But Sinon, you're a sniper. Isn't your specialty to snipe from afar?"
"That's true..."
"Then let's do this. During the next scan, I'll appear outside to lure Death Gun over. That guy must be hiding somewhere to snipe me. I'll then use that bullet to find his hiding place, and you shoot him. How about it?"
"...You intend to be bait and spectator at the same time?"
Sinon could only grumble at this overly daring plan, but in terms of their abilities, this may be the best option. A close-ranged type working together with a far-ranged type would definitely cause one side's forces to be worn down.
Sinon took a hard deep breath and nodded her head,
"I got it. So be it then. But before that, you better not get shot to death by Death Gun in one hit."
"I, I'll try my best...but that guy's sniper rifle is almost completely silent, and I can't see the initial bullet line."
"I don't know who said that he wanted to 'predict the bullet line'."
Both of them were still close together. In such a conversation, Sinon felt that the fear that's clinging onto her back was leaving slightly.
Maybe there was a killer who entered her room in the real world—to be honest, she merely didn't look or think about this scary guess. Right now, she could only believe what Kirito said, that the person couldn't do anything once they take Death Gun down. Of course, besides Kirito's words, the virtual warmth he gave to Sinon brought some comfort to her. She will have to leave the hole, separate from Kirito and get into sniping mode alone. She didn't know whether she could maintain this current mental state. Thus, at least she should take more of the other avatar's warmth. Sinon leaned her body closer for the last time.
At this moment, Kirito muttered in a surprised manner...
"Eh...let's forget about that for now. Sinon, there was some red dot blinking at the bottom right corner since just now..."
"Eh..."
On looking over, she could find that it was just as what Kirito said. Sinon thought about what exactly he was talking about, but immediately looked up at bulletspeed. As expected, the object was at the top of the cave. She wanted to jump away from Kirito's legs, but it would be meaningless to do this now, and she could only sigh.
"Ahh...damn it, I was really careless..."
What was floating in the air—was something mysterious, a round aquamarine concentric circle. However, that wasn't a real object, but a glowing object in the game. Kirito, who discovered the same thing, tilted his head and asked,
"Eeh...what's that..."
Sinon shrugged her shoulders and then answered,
"A live camera feed. It would normally show the footage of battles, but now that there aren't many people left, they would come over here."
"Eh...damn it. Was our conversation just now..."
"Don't worry. It won't spread if we don't shout or something—How about we just wave our hands at them?"
Then, she continued with a cold and cruel voice,
"Or will you be troubled about letting some people see this footage?"
On hearing this, a terrified look flashed over Kirito's face, but he immediately slipped through with a stiff face.
"Ah—...no...well...I guess you're the one who should be worried. Speaking of which, those who are seeing this would most likely think that we're girls, right?"
"Uu..."
That was right. After that, she might have to explain to others what was going on. However—that was something that's to be done after they pass through this crisis.
Fuun, Sinon used her nose and snorted and said,
"—The one who panicked after discovering the camera had an uglier look. I don't really care. Well...if there was some rumor that I had some strange liking, at least it would reduce a lot of troubles to me."
"Do I have to act as a girl all the way?"
"Don't say that you forgot. You asked me to lead you by dressing as a girl...ah, it vanished!"
The outside audience can't tell that we were making jabs at each other after seeing us like that, right? As Sinon thought this, the object that represented the live camera feed disappeared as it looked for a new target.
Sinon sighed and then really supported her upper body.
"Ok...time's almost up. There're still two minutes till the next scan through. I'll stay inside the cave, and you go outside to check the device, okay?"
Sinon said as she slowly got up before pulling up Kirito who she used as a chair up till now.
Soon after taking a step back, the cold air of the desert immediately covered her entire body, causing her to shrink her neck back. She picked up her beloved gun beside her foot and then carried the metal gun that had a tinge of warmth in the cold air.
"Ah...speaking of which..."
She looked up after hearing Kirito's voice, and saw the lightsaber warrior frown, looking like he was thinking about something.
"What else? There's no time to alter our plan."
"No...the plan goes on. What I want to say is...Death Gun's real name, or rather, the actual name of the character should be that «Sterben»."
"Yes...right, that's true. Who knows how he derived that name."
"I'll ask if I get a chance to fight him at close range. I'll make a move first then."
The black-haired lightsaber warrior nodded his head as he watched Sinon's eyes. He then turned his slender body around and walked towards the exit of the cave.
This cold feeling that couldn't go away even though I'm carrying Hecate, is it because I'm nervous about facing the final battle, or is it that I'm in danger in the real world—or is it because Kirito left me? Sinon couldn't tell.
She brought her shoulders closer in, breathed in the dry desert air, and then said to the profile that was gradually moving away,
"...Be careful."
That profile's back that was facing Sinon gave a thumbs up on the right hand to answer her reminder.
References
↑ Gunner: 'ジュウシ' (Jyuu-shi), Death Gun 'シジュウ' (Shi-jyuu)