Sword Art Online - Volume 6 - Phantom Bullet

  After leaning my back on the rock wall near the hole, I tried my best to hide myself and continued to watch the device. Several seconds later, the center of the map showed a light silently. I didn’t need to touch it to know that this light represented me—Kirito. Of course, Sinon, who was waiting in the cave beside me never showed up on the map.

  Unexpectedly, there weren’t other players who were alive in this desert in a 5km radius around me. Even if «Death Gun»—«Steven» would use the «Optical Camouflage» and not appear on the map, the other players who realized that Sinon and I were hiding in a desert cave should be gathered nearby and would be ready to lob grenades into the cave.

  This doesn’t sound necessarily great—but there were countless grey light dots shown all over the desert. Thus should be players who have retired, but there were so many «dead bodies», and yet we didn’t hear any sound of battle from the cave. Speaking of which, it’s really unbelievable.

  I hurriedly adjusted the receiver’s magnification and found that there was a light dot 6km southwest. After touching it with my fingertip, the name shown was «Yamikaze». This name seemed familiar.

  Looking down even more, I found out that there were a few dark dots and two light dots that were fairly close. The survivors were «No-no» and «Fernil». I then increased the range to display the entire island on the screen. However—there were no more lights. Even the player Sinon called «Lion King Richie», who occupied the peak of the southern hills ever since the beginning of the tournament had become dark. Also, there were two dark dots near him. It seemed that he was ganged up on.

  In other words, including Sinon and Death Gun who didn’t appear on the map, there were only 6 people left in this wide battlefield.

  Of course, there could be a possibility that the other players were hiding in caves or underwater, but without the unique ability of Death Gun, they wouldn’t be able to receive information from the satellite. Also, at this moment where the tournament’s about to end, there shouldn’t be anyone who’s patient enough to not to take a look at the current standings…

  “…Ah”

  Just when I was thinking about this as I watched the receiver, there was a sudden important change on the screen, and I couldn’t help but hold back my cry.

  This wasn’t because the number of light dots increased. In fact, it was the opposite. 2 light dots in the ruins nearby suddenly went dark.

  These two people probably didn’t realize that another person was nearby. And after seeing the screen, they realized that the enemy could be behind a wall where they were. They then hurriedly threw a grenade and caused both sides to die—or that’s how I think it went. If this were really the case, these two experts who fought like this until now were probably depressed over having to be eliminated like this. I had to hold back my urge to pray ‘Amen’ to them and send them off.

  Anyway–-just like that, the battle royale that originally began with 30 players was now left with four. Also, shown on the screen was just Yamikaze and me.

  I finally counted the number of light and dark dots that were scattered all over the island.

  And then gave a low moan.

  “Eh…”

  I hurriedly counted again, but no matter how I counted, the number never changed. The receiver screen showed only 2 surviving white dots. And also, the number of dots that were eliminated was 24.

  The numbers didn’t tally. Beside Sinon and Death Gun who didn’t appear on the screen, there were only 28 people. Even if we count «Pale Rider» who disconnected and disappeared after being shot by the handgun, there should be only 29 people. There’s still only one person left.

  Did someone betray my expectations and hide inside a cave or underwater? Otherwise…

  Death Gun «erased» another player.

  No. This shouldn’t be possible. Death Gun’s avatar, his accomplice in the real world should be waiting in Sinon’s house or somewhere nearby. I didn’t think of using Sinon as bait, but Death Gun’s accomplice can’t move to other targets’ houses like that.

  —No, maybe…did I leave out something important…?

  No. Now’s not the time to hesitate. I closed my eyes hard and shook aside the cold air that surrounded me.

  Once I opened my eyes, the light dots that were shown on the screen were starting to flicker. It seemed that the satellite was about to leave soon. Maybe…no, I don’t think I need to do another scan. I silently said farewell deep inside to the satellite which worked hard and immediately looked around. Under the desert that was covered in slight darkness, there wasn’t anything that could move or was glowing. I placed the device that lost its information back into the belt pouch before turning around and walking back to the cave.

  The girl who was carrying the large sniper rifle didn’t hide at the bottom of the buggy, but was waiting at the right corner of the cave.

  “So? How is it?”

  Sinon shook the short aquamarine hair that was tied to both sides as she asked anxiously. I tried to clearly and simply explain the entire situation to her.

  “Two people took each other out during the scan, so all that’s left should be 4 of us: me, you, «Yamikaze» and «Death Gun» who didn’t appear on the screen. Yamikaze’s 6km down southwest, and Death Gun should be moving over from a certain point in the desert. Also, there may be someone hiding in the cave like us.”

  I really couldn’t say my suspicion that someone could have died by Death Gun’s hands. Sinon herself didn’t seem to notice my worry as she muttered while looking somewhat surprised,

  “…Only 4, 5 people left…”

  But she then nodded her head and said,

  “It’s been past 1 hr and 45 minutes. In the estimated 2 hours the tournament would likely take, this progress would be able to meet that. However, it’s really strange that no one threw a grenade in here…”

  “Un…those who were searching for us were probably dealt with by Death Gun using the sniper rifle. There were a lot of grey dots all over the desert.”

  “In that case…that guy should get the Max Kill award.”

  After shrugging with a complicated look, Sinon seemed to be motivated again and said this,

  “Forget about that. The problem now is «Yamikaze». You’re the only survivor who appeared on his terminal, so he’ll definitely come for you.”

  “I think I heard that name before…is he strong?”

  After I asked, Sinon gave an incredulous look,

  “The second place in the last tournament. He’s a super AGI boost type. Called the «Devil of Run and Gun».”

  “Ru…run and gun?”

  “«Run and Gun», running and shooting as he continues to move. His weapon is the extremely light submachine gun «Calico M900A». He lost to the rare gun and defense equipment Zekushiido had the last time and got second, but some would say that Yamikaze’s skills were stronger.”

  “This…this means that he’s the strongest player in the GGO Japanese server…”

  Thinking about it, since he’s able to make his way to the end of the battle, he should be extremely strong. Just when I was thinking about this, Sinon brought that sort of determined voice into my ears,

  “Well…you just said that the real killer was «Death Gun»’s accomplice in the real world, right? If your guess is correct, Death Gun can only kill me because the accomplice’s in my house.”

  “…”

  I was a little, no, perhaps rather shocked as I watched her face that reminded me of a cat-like animal.

  An unknown killer was ready to harm her body in the real world. The fear in this situation may even surpass the bind I had with the NERvGear and the rules of the death game I experienced. At this moment, Sinon’s blue eyes were showing fear, but I could see the glint that’s fighting against it. She continued to say in a cool tone to me, who was dumbstruck.

  “Anyway, this means that we don’t have to worry about Yamikaze being killed by Death Gun. Then, even though I’m sorry for Yamikaze, we can also use him as b
ait, right? If Death Gun uses the L115 to snipe Yamikaze, we can find his location. This is much more effective than you going alone as bait…and basically, I’m doing something similar.”

  The last words should be referring to how she’s holding Death Gun’s accomplice in the real world. Even though she trembled a bit at the end, it’s impressive that she had the concentration to finish it off.

  “…You’re really strong, Sinon.”

  The sniper girl blinked and then smiled,

  “…I just didn’t think about that. I was always good with ignoring things I’m scared of.”

  Then, she immediately said something else to cover over that dig at herself.

  “Anyway, how’s that strategy? I think it’s a situation where we have to use it.”

  “Un…that’s true. I agree with your strategy too…but…”

  I bit my lips slightly and then said a doubt that remained in my heart a few minutes back.

  “…There’s something I’m worried about. During the satellite scan just now, I counted the number of survivors and those eliminated. There were 28 people. Even if we include Pale Rider, there’s still one less player.”

  “…Don’t tell me, Death Gun killed someone else after that?”

  Sinon widened her eyes, but immediately shook her head.

  “Tha…that’s impossible! The accomplice’s target should be me, right? The outside’s not a virtual world. How can he move to such a place so quickly? Was another player in the same apartment as me?”

  “Yo…you’re right…but thinking about it, this is really a bit unnatural…”

  I glanced at my watch. It’s been two minutes since the scan ended, thus I quickly mentioned all the doubts on my mind clearly,

  “About 30 minutes elapsed from the moment Death Gun shot Pale Rider and got ready to shoot you near the stadium. In other words, Pale Rider in the real world should be living about 30 minutes away from you. Of course, this isn’t impossible, but don’t you find that it’s too much of a coincidence?”

  “…But, that’s just a possibility.”

  I said the doubt that crept up my mind during the satellite scan to the frowning Sinon.

  “No. Listen…maybe there isn’t just one person as Death Gun’s accomplice. If there were multiple «task forces», even if someone stayed behind to attack you, he can also harm another target. In other words…we can’t deny the possibility that Yamikaze is a target of Death Gun.”

  “…!”

  Sinon gasped and hugged her huge sniper rifle hard. She shook the face that showed a little white light in the slightly dark space.

  “Ho, how’s that possible…?are you saying that there are more than 3 people who’re taking part in this horrifying killer plot?”

  “…There were at least 10 survivors from the ex-«Laughing Coffin» guild. Also, those guys were locked in the same jail for almost half a year. Maybe they exchanged contacts in the real world…to be a little extreme, they had enough time to thoroughly go through with this plan. Of course, not all 10 people can take part…but we have no proof to decide that there was only one accomplice.”

  “…Why…why must they plan so much just to continue this «PK»…?they just got released from the death game, so why…?”

  On hearing her trembling vice, I used my dry throat to squeeze an answer out.

  “…Maybe it’s the same reason why I wanted to be a «swordsman» and why you wanted to be a «sniper»…”

  “…”

  I thought that Sinon would be angry, but she merely bit her lips. Then, her slender body stopped trembling, and her blue eyes were giving off a strong glow.

  “…If that’s the case, we have all the more reason to not to lose to these guys. I just used the word «PK», and I want to take that back. A lot of people are PKing in this game, and I joined a squadron that was based on this. However, PKing has rules and realizations. Killing completely unconscious players who dived in through drugs isn’t PKing. It’s just despicable crime…just killing.”

  “Un…that’s right. We can’t let these people continue on like this. We have to beat «Death Gun» here and make him pay for his crimes with his accomplices in the real world.”

  In fact, half of these words were said to myself.

  That’s right—that’s my top priority. I have to start all over here. This is to redeem myself for killing two people in my madness that night and taking another person’s life after that.

  This should be a battle I have to face alone, but this sniper girl got completely involved. I could only watch her silently.

  If her safety’s the priority, we can make Yamikaze fight Death Gun and immediately suicide once one of them wins. However, the worst thing was that the tournament would still go on if that person who didn’t appear on the map wasn’t Death Gun’s victim, but was hiding underwater or in a cave. And Death Gun would take down Yamikaze and then shoot at Sinon who’s unable to move while I’m a corpse for the time being. Also, if Yamikaze was Death Gun’s target, we would only end up increasing the number of victims.

  Thus, I have to fight. I want to protect Sinon, deal with Yamikaze, and beat Death Gun. This isn’t easy, but I have to complete all these—

  As I thought about this, Sinon herself said with an adamant voice,

  “Leave Yamikaze to me then.”

  “Eh…”

  “That guy’s strong. Even you can’t beat him immediately. Besides, Death Gun will use this opportunity to show up when you two are fighting.”

  “That…that’s true, I guess…”

  Sinon saw me give an ambiguous expression, released the gun from her right hand and then patted on my chest.

  “Beside, you must be thinking about protecting me.”

  I was unable to say anything back as these words hit the target. The small mouth of that sniper immediately smiled, but then scowled again.

  “Stop joking around. I’m the sniper. You’re the supporter. Just help me find the enemies’ positions. Leave Yamikaze and Death Gun to me.”

  I don’t really understand a small part of these words, but I could only give a wry smile and nod my head,

  “I see. I’ll leave it to you then… I guess both of them should be nearby. I’ll ride out in the buggy. You’ll leave the cave a little later and find a spot to snipe.”

  After we confirmed the plan we had a while back, Sinon nodded her head.

  This time, the serious expression returned to her face. The girl looked at me straight on from the front and then said simply,

  “I’ll leave it to you then, partner.”

  Part 2

  Sinon set her beloved Hecate’s scope into night vision mode and then placed her right eye on it.

  In this vast desert, there wasn’t anything moving around at that moment. However, Yamikaze in the southwest side and Death Gun, whose whereabouts are unknown, should be approaching this place.

  Sinon chose a short hilly peak as the sniping area, and right below the rocky hill was the cave they were hiding in just now. It’s hard to spot this place from the ground, and she could get a birds-eye view all around. However, there is the risk of danger. Though it’s a short hilltop, the peak’s still more than 10m tall from the ground. Someone like Sinon, whose VIT isn’t high, can’t jump down just like that. Also, there’s only one way to get up to here. If the enemy was nearby, she could be pierced through by bullets with nowhere else to go.

  However, now’s the time where she should shake away all negative thoughts. The sniper continued to try and keep herself calm as she stealthily turned her beloved gun to the right.

  Thus, she spotted a figure right in the middle of a large sand dune.

  The night wind that continued on and off blew his waist-length black hair at times. He’s wearing a black army uniform on his slender body, making him look like he was about to mix into the darkness. That profile was more of an elf swordsman in the middle of a fantasy desert rather than a soldier with a gun.

  Right in front of Kirit
o was the transport both of them took from the ruins to here—the three-wheeler buggy. It didn’t have much fuel when it ran out of the cave, so it shouldn’t be able to move now. However, the buggy still fulfilled its duty obediently until the end. Its massive frame was used as a cover by Kirito. It’s easy to spot, but people couldn’t really snipe him from the north easily.

  The rocky hill Sinon was hiding at was on the south side of where Kirito was, and this was a location that had only a few attack options. In other words, Death Gun’s L115 could only attack from the west and the east. Also considering that Yamikaze was coming over from the west, Death Gun would probably take action from the east. That should be what Kirito was thinking. His face that didn’t look any different from a girl when looked from afar was facing the blueish-white moon that was gradually moving up through the hole in the thick clouds.

  Death Gun would probably not use the stun bullets when sniping Kirito, but use the .338 Lapua Magnum. It would almost guarantee an immediate death once that kind of bullet hits the head or the heart. Even if it only hits the limbs, the impact damage would cause half the HP to be gone. Also, Kirito would find it hard to dodge this attack. Death Gun’s first bullet didn’t have the bullet line, and he could also use the «Metamaterial Optical Camouflage» to hide and snipe. Of course, there would be footprints on the sand, so he couldn’t move to a position where he could get a sure hit. But even so, Death Gun had an overwhelming advantage.

  —But, if it’s you.

  You, who cleared that «Untouchable Game» when we first met and could even slice Hecate’s bullet from point blank, you’ll definitely be able to dodge it, Kirito.

  Sinon said this to him in her heart, and then turned her eyes back to the rifle.

  Her job was to allow Kirito to maximize his concentration. Thus, they had to quickly deal with the strongest AGI-type attacker, Yamikaze that was closing in from behind.