Phantom Bullet 2

by Reki Kawahara

  I’d been under the impression that GGO was stuck in a perpetual twilight, so it was a surprise to me that night could actually fall. I looked up at the sky. Then again, it was nearly ten PM in the real world, so it made sense that it would be dark here.

  There were hardly any stars in the sky. In this world, a large-scale space war in the distant past had doomed civilization, leaving humanity to scrape by on the technological remnants of its former glory. Obviously, they hadn’t destroyed the stars in their war, but the emptiness of the sky almost made it seem that way.

  A small light cut across from the southwest, splitting the infinite darkness.

  It was not a shooting star, but a satellite—launched by the old civilization, still mindlessly sending information without anyone to manage it anymore.

  It was nine forty-five PM, which made this the seventh Satellite Scan since the start of the Bullet of Bullets final competition.

  I turned away from the vast sky, pulled out a thin terminal from my pouch and touched the screen. The panel lit up and displayed a map of the area. Nearly the entire northern half of the island that served as the battleground was desert, and aside from the occasional rocky outcropping and oasis, the terrain was flat. Not a place that suited snipers—or so I thought.

  I put my back to the side of the rock I’d just emerged from, taking care to hide myself as much as possible so I could study the terminal in peace. A few seconds later, a little blip appeared in the center of the map without a sound. I didn’t need to touch it to know that it represented me. As Sinon was lying in wait in the nearby cave, she didn’t appear on the map, of course.

  To my surprise, in the desert zone there were no other dots for living players within five kilometers. It made sense that Death Gun—or ‘Steven’—would not appear, thanks to his Optical Camo, but I had been expecting a gathering of enemy players who had figured out our hiding spot, ready to toss their grenades into the cave.

  Instead, there was a scattering of dark gray blips throughout the desert. They were the players who had already been eliminated, but it was eerie to know that so many bodies were lying around, yet we hadn’t heard any sounds of battle whatsoever.

  I zoomed out. There was one dot about six kilometers to the southwest. Tapping the dot told me that it belonged to Yamikaze. That name was familiar.

  Farther to the south, in the ruined city, there were two dots approaching one another and a host of gray spots. The survivors were No-No and Ferney. A further zoom-out showed the entire island on the panel. But to my surprise, there were no other lit dots. Even the dot that had set up shop on the peak of the southern mountain at the very start of the game, the one Sinon had derisively called “Richie the Camper,” was now gray. There were two blips of the same color nearby, which suggested that he’d been teamed up on.

  That meant, if you included Sinon and Death Gun, who wouldn’t show up on the screen, there were currently six players left on the vast island.

  Naturally, I couldn’t deny the possibility that other players were hiding in caves or water, but unless they had a special ability like Death Gun, they wouldn’t be able to receive the satellite information, either. Not many could afford to sit through the climactic stage of a battle without knowing what was happening…

  “…Ah!”

  As I stared at the terminal, lost in thought, something changed significantly on the screen. It wasn’t more dots, but the opposite. The two blips clustered in the city both went dark at once.

  My guess was that until the scan started, neither of the two knew the other was there. Perhaps they were surprised to see on the screen that an enemy was just beyond the wall, and they each threw a desperate grenade at the other, blowing themselves up. If that was the case, it had to be a bitter end for contestants who had fought hard to get this far. I just barely resisted the urge to say a brief prayer in their memory.

  At any rate, this meant that only four players were left out of the original thirty. But out of those, only Yamikaze and I showed up on the map. Finally, I did a quick count of lit dots and shaded dots on the map. When I was done, I gasped.

  “Wha…”

  I had to recount. Then again. But the number did not change. There were two white dots on the terminal screen for survivors. And twenty-four in gray for the losers.

  The numbers didn’t add up. Even if you added the hidden Sinon and Death Gun, that only made twenty-eight. With Pale Rider, who didn’t show up because he was shot by the black pistol and disconnected, that was twenty-nine. One short.

  Were my assumptions incorrect, and one more person was hiding?

  Or had Death Gun managed to “erase” another combatant?

  The possibility of the latter was slim. After all, Death Gun’s real-life accomplice had to be either in Sinon’s house or in her immediate environment. I didn’t want to think of her as bait, but as long as Death Gun was going after her, his accomplice couldn’t leave to travel to a different target.

  No, wait… Maybe I’m missing something huge here…

  No good. I couldn’t be waffling about this. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook off the chill settling in on me.

  When I opened my eyes again, the dots on the screen were blinking—the satellite was nearly done with its pass. It was possible—no, likely—that there wouldn’t be a next scan. I offered the satellite a silent thanks for its work, then looked at my surroundings. Nothing moved or shone in the gloomy desert. I returned the terminal to my pouch and headed back for the cave.

  The sniper with her massive rifle was waiting for me just around the curve, rather than in the very back with the buggy.

  “How was it? What’s the situation?!” Sinon demanded, her tied-up hair waving on either side of her face.

  I gave her a concise but accurate account. “In the middle of the scan, two players knocked each other out, which probably leaves just four. You, me, Yamikaze, and Death Gun, who didn’t show up. Yamikaze’s about six kilos to the southwest. Death Gun’s probably somewhere in the desert, on his way here. And there might be one other person hiding in a cave, like us.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to say that the missing person might possibly be a second victim of Death Gun’s. Sinon didn’t seem to pick up on it.

  She muttered, “Only four or five left,” but accepted it at once. “It’s already been an hour and forty-five minutes, though. Last time it took just about two hours, so the pace fits the prior pattern. It’s almost a mystery to me that no one came by to toss a grenade into the cave, though…”

  “Yeah. Maybe Death Gun was wandering around searching for us, and he picked everyone else off with that rifle of his. There were plenty of gray dots in the desert.”

  “In that case, he’s going to wind up with the Max Kills prize,” she said unhappily, then switched topics. “The problem now is Yamikaze. The only other survivor that appeared on his screen would be you, so he’s got to be on his way over.”

  “I recognize the name…Is he good?” I asked.

  Sinon gave me an exasperated look. “He was the runner-up of the last tournament. Plays an extreme Agility build; they call him the Run and Gun Demon.”

  “Run and…Gun?”

  “Just what it sounds like—a playstyle where you run around and shoot. He uses an ultralight Calico M900A submachine gun. He came in second to Zexceed’s rare gun and armor, but some say Yamikaze’s actually the better player when it comes to skill.”

  “So…he might be the best on GGO’s Japanese server…?”

  It made sense that someone who had lasted this long would be very good. I frowned, wondering what to do.

  Sinon spoke up, her voice resolute. “Listen…if your conjecture that it’s actually an accomplice doing the killing in real life is correct, then Death Gun can only kill me right now. After all, the accomplice has to be staked out at my place to do it.”

  “…”

  I was more than a little surprised. I stared at the little, catlike face across from me.

  An
unfamiliar killer had his sights on her unprotected body in real life. The horror of that situation was, in a way, even greater than the shackles of the NerveGear and game of death that I endured. But Sinon’s dark eyes, even with her fright, showed a will to face that threat directly.

  I was at a loss for words, so Sinon calmly continued, “That means we don’t need to seriously worry about Death Gun killing Yamikaze. So, while I mean no disrespect to him, perhaps we could let Yamikaze be our decoy? If Death Gun shoots him with the L115, we’ll know his location. That’s a more solid plan than having you be the bait. Plus…depending on how you think of it, that’s kind of what I’m doing now.”

  I took her last sentence to mean that she was using her real body as a lure to keep Death Gun’s accomplice present. While her voice did quaver a bit at the end, the willpower needed to say it at all was impressive.

  “…You’re real tough, Sinon,” I murmured. The sniper blinked, then her lips pursed a bit.

  “No…I’m just trying not to think about it. I’ve always been good at shutting my eyes to scary things,” she remarked ruefully. “At any rate, what do you think of the plan? I think we ought to make use of whatever we can at this point.”

  “Yeah…you’re right, I agree. For the most part, I’m in…but…”

  I bit my lip, then elaborated on the concern that had been eating away at me for the last few minutes. “The thing is…there’s one thing that worries me. I counted up all the survivors and losers in the last satellite scan, but there were only twenty-eight. Even if one is Pale Rider, that leaves us one short.”

  “…You mean…Death Gun might have killed someone else?” Sinon’s eyes went wide, but she promptly shook her head. “Th-that’s impossible! I mean, his accomplice is after me, right? It’s not virtual reality—he can’t just teleport anywhere he wants. Unless you’re trying to say that one of the other contestants just so happens to live in my apartment building!”

  “Right…that’s the point…But if you think about it, it’s a bit unnatural…”

  I glanced at my watch to see that two minutes had already passed since the scan. I tried to explain what was on my mind in as short a time as possible. “Only thirty minutes passed between when Death Gun shot Pale Rider at the bridge, and when he tried to shoot you near the stadium. That means that in the real world, Pale Rider’s home is within thirty minutes’ travel from yours. Maybe it’s not impossible, but it seems awfully convenient to me.”

  “But…that’s the only possibility, isn’t it?” Sinon asked, her brows furrowed.

  I revealed the thought that had plagued me since the Satellite Scan. “No, it’s not. What if…Death Gun has more than one accomplice? If he has a strike team with multiple members, he could have one of them on standby, ready to kill you, at the same moment he’s busy killing someone else. That means we can’t deny the possibility that Yamikaze might be another target.”

  “…!”

  She sucked in a sharp breath and clutched her sniper rifle tighter. The pale face floating in the gloom shook slightly.

  “N-no…You mean there are three or more people working together to commit these horrible crimes?”

  “…I know there are at least ten surviving members of Laughing Coffin. And they were locked in the same prison for half a year in SAO. They easily could have traded real-life contact information…even planned out this whole horrible strategy in all of the time they had there. I doubt that all ten of them are in on this…but there’s no proof that there’s only one accomplice.”

  “…Why would they…Why would they go to such lengths to keep PKing…? Why, when they were finally released from that horrible game…?” she whimpered.

  I wrung the answer from my dry, painful throat. “Maybe…it’s the same reason I decide to be a swordsman, and you decide to be a sniper…”

  “…”

  I thought she would be angry, but Sinon only bit her lip. Her skinny body stopped trembling, and her navy blue eyes turned hard and resolute. “If that’s the case…we can’t let them win. I just said they were PKing, but I take that back. There are plenty of people who PK in this game, and I’ve joined squadrons who did that, but PKing has its own pride and determination. Poisoning an unconscious victim while they’re in a full dive isn’t PKing. It’s a sickening crime…It’s murder.”

  “Yeah. That’s right. We can’t let them keep getting away with this. We’ll beat Death Gun in here, then make his accomplices pay for their crimes.”

  That message was to myself as much as to her.

  Yes, it was my primary duty. I had to start over from there. I killed two people on that night of madness, then another one later, and I had to atone for those stolen lives.

  Normally this would be my battle alone, but now I’d involved the sniper girl in my sins. I stared at her.

  If I was prioritizing her safety, I’d let Yamikaze and Death Gun fight, then when one of them was victorious, we’d both commit suicide, ending the tournament immediately. The worst possible scenario would be if the one person missing from the map wasn’t one of Death Gun’s victims but had been hiding in the river or caves after all. The tournament would not be over, and after defeating Yamikaze, Death Gun could appear and shoot Sinon’s temporary body before my eyes. Plus, if Yamikaze happened to be one of Death Gun’s targets, we’d only be increasing the number of his victims.

  I had to fight. I had to protect Sinon, eliminate Yamikaze, and defeat Death Gun. It wouldn’t be easy, but it all had to be done…

  Sinon herself interrupted my thoughts with her own offer: “I’ll take out Yamikaze.”

  “Huh…?”

  “He’s very good. Even you won’t be able to wipe him out instantly. And while you’re fighting, Death Gun will go after you.”

  “Um…okay, but,” I mumbled. Sinon took her hand off the gun and slapped me lightly on the chest.

  “Knowing you, you’ve probably got some idea in your head that you need to ‘protect me’ or something.”

  I had no response; she was right on the money. A smile appeared on the sniper’s lips, followed by a grimace.

  “Well, that’s crap. I’m the sniper, and you’re the spotter. If you help me out by revealing their location, I’ll take care of Yamikaze and Death Gun.”

  I wasn’t sure what she called me, but I smirked and nodded anyway. “Okay. It’s up to you, then. They should both be real close by now. I’ll zip out in the buggy, and you pop out behind me and find a good sniping location.”

  We were back to the original plan. Sinon nodded her agreement. She stared right back at me, her eyes serious once again, and said, “Let’s do it, partner.”

  Sinon pressed her right eye to the scope of the Hecate II, which had been switched to night-vision mode.

  Nothing moved on the vast desert for now. But Yamikaze was approaching from the southwest, and Death Gun would be converging from wherever he was hiding, she figured.

  For her sniping position, Sinon chose the top of the rocky structure that housed the cave she’d been hiding in. She was hard to see from the ground, and she had a good vantage over the area. But there was a risk, too. Though it wasn’t particularly tall, the stone outcropping was over thirty feet off the ground at its peak, which meant that with her low Vitality stat, Sinon couldn’t just hop down safely. There was only one way up to the top, so if an enemy got close, she’d be shot before she could escape.

  But this was the time to abandon any negative thoughts. She kept her mind flat, panning the rifle to her right.

  In the center of her view, right at the top of a large dune, stood a silent figure. The occasional breeze rustled his long, back-length hair. The black fatigues covering his slender body melted into the night, making him look less like a gun-toting soldier than a fairy swordsman presiding over the desert of a fantasy realm.

  Beyond Kirito was the trusty steed that had taken them into the desert from the ruined city—the three-wheeled buggy. There was hardly any gas left when he took it out of
the cave, so it was probably done for good. But the buggy had performed its final task admirably. Thanks to the cover of its large chassis, Kirito could be seen easily, but would be difficult to snipe from the north.

  To the south of him was the rock where Sinon hid, and her vision was equally limited. That meant that if Death Gun shot with the L115, it would be from the west or the east. Given that Yamikaze was most likely approaching from the west, he would be coming from the east. Kirito had already come to the same opinion, as his girlish face was turned to the pale moon appearing through the thick, trailing clouds.

  Death Gun would probably shoot Kirito with the .338 Lapua Magnum, rather than the electric stun round. If the shot landed on his head or heart, he would die instantly. If it hit one of his limbs, he would lose half his HP from the impact. But evasion would not be easy, either. Not only would Death Gun’s first shot not give away a bullet line, the enemy’s Metamaterial Optical Camo meant that he could get into sniping position while invisible. He couldn’t get too close, as he’d still leave visible footprints in the sand, but it was clear that he held an overwhelming advantage at this point.

  But if anyone can do it, it’s you. You beat the Untouchable dodging game on your first try, and you cut my point-blank Hecate bullet in two. You can dodge it, Kirito, Sinon thought, setting her rifle back in position.

  Her job was to give Kirito all the concentration he could muster. In order to do that, she had to eliminate the incredibly agile attacker Yamikaze as he approached from behind, as soon as she could.

  If she had enough time and a safe way to do it, she could explain the situation to Yamikaze, and perhaps convince him to evacuate or assist them. But it would be very difficult to convince anyone that real murder was taking place during the BoB final. Even Sinon would have laughed off everything that Kirito had told her, if she hadn’t come face-to-face with the chilling sight of that black pistol pointed at her face-first.

  So she had to shoot now. In a tournament without Zexceed, she had to take down the player everyone agreed was the most likely champion, with a single shot.