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.
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