Chapter 12 Part 2
Sinon held up her still blurry head and looked around. As she
found that reddish-brown rocky hill slightly far 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. Like what 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 the 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
swim 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 a 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."
Saying till here, 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»
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 as he said till here, 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 use this 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 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 said 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, he 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.
"Un. That guy's 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's
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. Maybe I may 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 leaves 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 had 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.
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's got, 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.
"Un. 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's 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 «Survivor
of SAO». That Death Gun's 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...have 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's 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's 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 leave 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 don't know how he killed them without knowing
the player controlling the mantle avatar in the real world and
investigate 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?
Beside, 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...?"
"Un...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's 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 till here, 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 the 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
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's 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's 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... it wasn't 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 a 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, but who is his accomplice....?"
"Yeah, I think there's a high chance that the guy is most likely a
survivor of SAO. 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 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's 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 a car accident when I
was a baby."
"I see..."
Kirito's answer was rather short. Sinon forcefully brought her
face near Kirito's chest,
"—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's 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 suppressed 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's 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's still two minutes till the next scan
through. I'll stay inside the cave, an 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 give a thumbs up on the
right hand to answer her reminder.