Phantom Bullet Chapter 11

Chapter 11

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On hearing that logical conclusion from Yui, Lisbeth who was sitting to the left started laughing,

"Ahaha, that's rather possible too. Also, he's using a sword instead of a gun in a game full of gun weaponry."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lisbeth was holding a glass cup that was full of jade-colored grape wine as she said that with a puzzled tone. On her left, Lyfa then shot Asuna a look. Right now, only Asuna, Lyfa and Yui knew that Kirito received a request by a friend in ALO, the Undine water mage «Chrysheight»—actually, the person controlling the avatar was an officer of the 'Virtual Division', Kikuoka Seijirou—to investigate GGO. From the way Lyfa gave the 'I'll leave it to you' look, Asuna pondered for a while before answering,

"Well...it seemed that he received some strange job. I heard that he had to investigate some VRMMO, or rather, the current state of «The Seed Nexus». GGO is the only game with a «Money Trading System», so it was chosen to be investigated."

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

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

Thus, Asuna merely said 'do your best' before watching Kirito leave. Right now, she could only hang out with a few good friends, wait in a distant world, and watch the live telecast—

But she couldn't deny that she had been feeling extremely anxious for some reason during the past few days.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Kirito, but a rather vague premonition. Something was about to happen, no, it really will happen. It was like that maze area in Aincrad in the past, being surrounded by a large number of monsters outside the search range as they gradually move in—

Asuna's voice and expression shouldn't have revealed her worry, but as her good friend, Lisbeth could have felt that something wasn't right through her sixth sense as she nodded with an ambiguous expression.

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

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

On hearing Klein, who was waiting at the wall, ask this question, the four of them, including Asuna and Lyfa felt puzzled too. A while later, Silica then stuttered and said,

"Maybe he...intends to earn a large amount of money by winning this tournament and test the money trading system? I once heard that the minimum exchange rate was rather high..."

On hearing these words, Yui, who was on Asuna's shoulder, immediately quipped,

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

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

"Thank you, Yui-chan."

Asuna patted the pixie's head with her finger and pondered as she said,

"It seems like the money trading system isn't really complicated...we also send encrypted digital money over through e-mail. Kirito-kun shouldn't have to investigate it personally..."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Wow, that person is really amazing. Looks like GGO is rather interesting too. I don't know if I can create my own guns..."

Like how she was in SAO, Lisbeth's avatar was a Leprechaun blacksmith. This sounded just like her, causing Asuna to chuckle,

"Hey hey, don't you even think of moving to GGO. There're still many levels of New Aincrad to explore!"

"That's right, Liz-san! They're opening an update above level 20!"

Even Silica, who was next to Lyfa, spoke up to stop her. Lisbeth could only raise her hands and surrender.

"I got it, I got it. I'm just thinking that 'there're such strong people no matter what kind of game it is~' . That blue guy just now should be one of the favorites for this tournament..."

Just as she said that, the «blue guy» in the same screen actually collapsed.

The cameras immediately focused on this blue player who collapsed onto the floor. There was also the name 'Pale Rider' there.

Though he collapsed, he didn't look like he was dead. At this moment, a slight spark seemed to climb out from the bullet hole in his right shoulder. It seemed like the player's action was sealed.

"It's just like the wind magic «Lightning Curtain Seal»..."

On hearing the Sylph mage fighter Lyfa say this, the Salamander swordsman Klein immediately shook that red hair that was made upright by the low-quality headband, and said,

"I hate those things the most. And besides, that tracking ability is too good already, isn't it!?"

"You hate all sorts of weakening spells! Increase your anti-magic ability a bit, will you?"

"Fuun, who cares about you? A warrior like me won't choose a skill with the word 'magic'. I won't choose it even if you kill me!"

"I say, many warriors in old RPGs were warriors who knew black magic!"

Asuna could only give a wry smile as she watched Klein and Lisbeth quarrel. She reached her right hand out and towards that image that was worth noticing before expanding it out with two fingers. The image of Pale Rider on the floor immediately became bigger as the other images were pushed to the side.

It's been more than 10 seconds ever since he was suddenly numbed, but there wasn't anyone who appeared in the camera. They could only see tea-colored earth, the metal bridge, the river that flows below and the forest on the far opposite side that was blurred by the dust—

*PAM!*

This sound that suddenly rang caused the 5 people to jerk in shock. At this moment, a black cloth entered the camera screen from the left. The camera then panned backwards, and the new character finally appeared on the last screen.

"...Phantom...?"

Was that hoarse voice from Lisbeth, Silica—or Asuna herself?

It was a guy with a dark-grey tattered mantle that danced with the wind. The inside of the head was completely covered by the shadow, which made it hard to tell. They could only see two will-o-wisp like red eyes deep inside. This looked way too similar to the phantom-type monsters that everyone had trouble with in the past at Aincrad.

Asuna blinked and then again looked at the screen. Of course, the person standing there wasn't a phantom, but a player who was taking part in the tournament. This tattered mantle guy should be the one who used an electric bullet to immobilize Pale Rider. ALO had mage fighters who used many binding spells from long range to seal the enemy and finish it off from close range. This was a rather popular ability skillset in a game.

The tattered mantle guy seemed to confirm Asuna's thoughts as he reached his right hand into his mantle near his chest and then pulled out a black gun. However, if that was the main weapon that's able to deal damage to the enemy, it's a little...what...

"...Too painful, isn't it?"

At the corner of the room, Klein seemed to be feeling the same way and raised his doubt. He rubbed the moustache on his chin, and said

"Either way, the sniper rifle on his shoulder just looks way more powerful. Wouldn't finishing off the enemy with that gun be easier...?"

"Maybe bullets are expensive? Isn't ALO like this? There're a lot of catalysts that are required for a large spell."

As everyone considered what Lyfa said, the mantle guy flicked the hammer behind the black gun and pointed the gun at Pale Rider, who was still on the floor.

However, he seemed to be taunting the enemy—or the audience's mood as he still hadn't squeezed the trigger. He raised his left hand, doing something unexpected. He pointed his thumb at his forehead, chest, left shoulder and right shoulder in order.

At this moment—

Asuna felt a little numbness deep inside her mind.

It wasn't just some special hand sign. It was merely an ordinary «Cross». Besides seeing this in Western movies, there were many professional healer-type players in VRMMO who often do this to cast magic. Of course, a real Christian who sees this would feel really unhappy about this , but Asuna wasn't a Christian, and the feeling just now wasn't of anger of unhappiness. If she had to say it—it felt like her fingers undid a knot that wasn't supposed to be removed...

Asuna's body got tense unknowingly as she widened her eyes. She watched the mantle guy on the screen finish drawing the Sign of the Cross and then put his left hand on the side of the handgun. He took half a step back on his right foot, turned his side to Pale Rider, and squeezed the trigger—

"Ah...?"

Someone suddenly let out a shocked voice.

The mantle guy seemed to be thinking about something as he suddenly bent backwards.

However, 0.1 second later, Asuna and the rest immediately knew why he had to do this. There was a large orange bullet that flew in from outside the screen. It grazed past the open mantle, through where the heart of the avatar was supposed to be and instead traveled through the empty air..

Someone must have sniped at the mantle guy from far away. Also, Asuna saw that the bullet seemed to be coming from the left rear side of him. He actually dodged that attack with such an angle and speed brilliantly, and even though the game world was different, she knew that that was a rather impressive technique.

The mantle guy dodged the bullet that was suddenly shot at him and then lifelessly brought his body back up. He then glanced to the left rear side. Though the face couldn't be seen from deep within the hood because of the shadows, Asuna could feel that he was giving a frivolous smile.

At this moment, a sharp pain occurred deep inside Asuna's mind.

—What's going on? What's with this feeling? Is this...a memory? But how's that possible...I've never been to GGO before. I haven't even seen the game screencaps...

The mantle guy looked like he wanted to shoot through Asuna's doubts as he again raised his handgun.

This time, he finally squeezed the trigger at the player who collapsed due to numbness easily.

The dry gunshot. The bronze empty cartridge flew out and landed on the barren land beside him.

The bullet that was shot hit the Pale Rider who was on the floor right in the middle, creating a small spark on him. However, this didn't look like a powerful hit that would deplete the HP completely.

A second later, Pale Rider himself proved that Asuna wasn't mistaken as he finally recovered from his numb state and turned around, putting the large gun in his right hand right in the mantle guy's chest.

"Woah, a huge comeback..."

Asuna was also predicting that things would go as what Lisbeth said.

However...

Let alone a gunshot or sparks, there wasn't even the sound of a trigger being squeezed. Pale Rider's gun rolled on the floor.

Then, the owner of the gun slowly fell to the right—before collapsing on the ground again.

Under the silver-grey helmet, they could see Pale Rider's skinny nose and tightly closed lips. His lips were trembling, and he suddenly opened his mouth. Then, there was a silent intense emotion that came from deep within his throat. Asuna's instincts were telling her that the player who was controlling this avatar was really experiencing shock and fear.

"Wha...what is happening...?"

As Lyfa cupped her mouth with her hand and said this, something even more unexpected happened. Pale Rider, who was lying flat on the floor, frozen as if a pause button was pressed, then vanished with a white static special effect.

The special effect light still remained in the air even after the avatar disappeared before forming a word. However, the word that showed 'disconnection' was stepped on by a dark black boot. The mantle guy brought his left hand back into his mantle and stepped forward.

It seemed that he knew where the camera was as he raised the handgun in his right hand and pointed at the screen. This caused Asuna to feel that the wall between the worlds of GGO and ALO—no, the real world and virtual world were destroyed, that her real body was being pointed at gunpoint, causing a chill down her back.

Within the darkness deep inside the hood, the red glowing eyes flickered. At that moment, a robotic-like voice stuttered through the screen.

"...My name, and the name of this gun, is «Death Gun»...«Death Gun»!"

The robotic voice had a twisted and intense emotion. On hearing that voice, a large crack formed deep within Asuna's memories.

That took away her breath and increased her heartbeat. Her eyes were watching the hidden face that couldn't be seen on the screen, and the face was lowering his chin. The voice rang again,

"One day, I will, appear in front of you guys, again. And then, use this gun, to bring real death to you. I have, such, a power."

The black handgun let out a soft sound. If he squeezed the trigger now, the bullet would feel like it would really fly through the imaginary screen. This caused Asuna to be wary. The mantle guy seemed to have read through her fear and gave a smile from deep within the hood. And then, he said—

"Don't forget. Nothing's, over. Nothing, is, over—it's showtime—"

On hearing those stuttered English words, Asuna seemed to be dealt the final blow or something.

—I know that guy.

I couldn't be mistaken. I met him somewhere before. I even spoke to him. But where...

No, I know the answer already. At that floating city...Aincrad. Not the safe duplicated world that's floating in the sky of ALO now, but the real unique world I once spent 2 years in. «Sword Art Online» is not over yet. That guy basically left out these words from what he said just now.

—Who is it? Who's the player controlling that mantle avatar...?

Asuna looked lost, but she was thinking quickly. She nearly jumped up from the sofa the moment she heard something hard land on the floor.

On looking back, she found that Klein, who was sitting on the bar bench let the crystal-base cup in his right hand fall to the floor. The cup that dropped onto the floor broke into many fragments of polygons and disappeared. However, he didn't care that this expensive player made set was destroyed at all as he widened the eyes under the headband.

"Oi, what are you doing..."

Klein stopped Lisbeth from grumbling with a low and hoarse voice.

"Im...impossible...that guy...don't tell me..."

On hearing this, Asuna really jumped up from sofa. She turned and shouted at Klein,

"Klein, do you know him? Who exactly is that guy?"

"No, not really...I couldn't remember his old name...but...I can be certain..."

This swordsman had deep fear in his eyes as he looked at Asuna, and then said,

"That guy's... a member of «Laughing Coffin»."

"...!"

This time, Asuna, and even Lisbeth and Silica gasped. Even for these two girls who lived in the middle levels, the atrocities this brutal murder red guild «Laughing Coffin» committed in Aincrad left a deep impression on them.

Asuna subconsciously placed her hands on their shoulders and timidly asked Klein,

"Don...don't tell me...it's the leader of those guys, that one who used a butcher knife...?"

"No...that's «PoH». Their manner of speaking is completely different. However...that 'it's showtime' just now was the catchphrase that 'PoH' loved to say. This guy should be a high-ranking guy beside him..."

Klein seemed to be moaning about something as he finished talking then turned to look at the screen. Asuna and the other 3 looked over as well.

Right in the center of the large screen, the mantle guy kept his black handgun and started moving far away. He moved in a phantom-like gliding motion and arrived at the bridge in the far corner of the screen. However, he didn't cross directly, but went through the perimeter of the bridge before reaching the river. In contrast to the sharp shadows that were caused by the red sunset, the dark grey mantle immediately went into the shadow of the metal bridge and disappeared.

At this moment, Lyfa's weak voice broke the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"Well...what's that «Laughing Coffin»...?"

"Well..."

Silica, who was sitting beside her, explained to Lyfa, who was the only one present not an original SAO player, the killing atrocities the red guild committed and their vanquish.

On hearing that, Lyfa immediately bit her lips and looked straight at Asuna with her jade-green eyes.

"Asuna-san, I think onii-chan may know that that person existed in GGO."

"Eh...?"

"He came back really late last night, and I felt that there was something strange about him when I reached home...maybe...he went to GGO to settle a grudge..."

On hearing those words, Asuna was immediately stunned, and this time, Lisbeth silently grabbed her hand. The girl forcefully grabbed her friend's hand to calm her down and then shook her short pink hair to raise the question she had,

"But in that case...what about the job? Didn't Kirito go to investigate GGO because of a request?"

That's right. The one who requested Kirito for this job should be the Virtual Division's Kikuoka Seijirou. Even if he was the person in charge of the «SAO Case Victims Rescue Force», he should know the relation between Laughing Coffin and the various Guilds.

But at the same time, Kirito's transfer and the existence of the mantle guy shouldn't be just a coincidence. There must be a certain link, something that made Kikuoka notice GGO and request Kirito to assist.

Asuna forcefully took a deep breath, still grabbing on to Lisbeth's hand which was holding hers and said,

"I'm going off first to see if I can contact the person who made the request of Kirito-kun."

"Eh? Asuna-chan, do you know that person?"

"Yeah. Everyone knows him...I'll call him here to confess. He should definitely know the reason behind this. Yui-chan, while I'm gone, can you please check the relevant records of GGO to see if there's data on that mantle player?"

"Got it, mama!"

The black-haired pixie on her shoulder flew to the table and closed her eyes as she started searching through the important information through the vast network flow.

"...Then, please wait for me, everyone!"

Once Asuna finished shouting, she shook her aquamarine hair, jumped over the sofa and quickly called out her window. She again nodded at everyone and immediately pressed the log out button.

The rainbow colors immediately surrounded Asuna's body, causing her soul to fly from the World Tree in the virtual world to the distant real world.