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"About damn time..." A girl sighed when she appeared in the spawning area of SBC Gurokken. Her username was 'ShiroDeShibo', Death in White. She was tall and thin, though the people spawning in around her towered over her. Even the few girls were big and muscular. She had shoulder length pure white hair and her eyes were the same with no pupils. Her expression showed not even a semblance of emotion.

She was wearing what looked like a heavy white travelling cloak and a standard black outfit that basically everyone around her was wearing. She looked at the outfit a bit distastefully and opened up her menu to check her stats and money.

-AGI 3984
-DEX 2500
-VIT 2993
-STR 4390
-DEF 3190

She realized her stats had transferred over exactly from SAO. She only had 1000 Credits though, which means her 42 Mil Cil did not transfer over. She had a vast amount of unknown items, in which she quickly deleted, and found that the only thing she had left was her outfit. Remembering the map from the player manual, she made her way over to the cheapest store in town.

GGO had gone through many updates in the months since the third BoB tournament. PvE was expanded more and PvP was changed slightly. Before, the bullet prediction lines were always there except for the initial shot of a sniper. Now, a player could spec into perks to increase the amount of shots fired before the BPL appeared. Silenced weapons now dimmed the line as well. A vast amount of close ranged perks and skills had been added to complement a new arsenal of melee weapons, which had been added after the player Kirito won the third BoB tournament using a laser sword.

Looking at her skills, her different smithing skills from SAO had transferred over into armor and melee smithing in part. She was going to have to ask an experienced player what she should do to start off and get more credits so she could get what she wanted.

"Hey, you look like you're new." A random guy suddenly said as she was walking and examining her menu at the same time. She looked up and found that quite a few of them were grouped around her.

"I am, what do all of you want?" Shiro replied.

"There aren't too many pretty girls around here, so you're kind of a rarity. We just wanna help you out, babe." Another called.

"Why is it always the cute ones... Alright you morons, get lost." A girl slightly smaller than her said, nearly shoving one of them over to get to Shiro. Her name was Sinon, according to the mumblings of the group. She had a massive sniper rifle on her back and she had brilliant blue hair.

"Oh shit, it's the legendary mother of snipers..." The group muttered.

"Leave, perverted pigs..." Sinon growled. Hesitantly, the group dispersed.

"Um... Thanks I guess? They called you 'the mother of snipers' so I'm guessing you're an amazing player." Shiro said.

"I've been the first second and third place winner in the BoB tournaments, so yeah. I'm guessing you just started and are looking for some help, right?" Sinon replied.

"If someone's willing to give it. I finally got around to transferring over my SAO avatar." Shiro answered. Sinon gave her an odd look when she said that.

"SAO?... I'll help you out, but there's two things I need to know." Sinon said.

"And what are those?" Shiro asked.

"FIrst, I want to see your stats and skills. A good amount should transfer over if memory serves. And second, you are a girl right?" Sinon asked.

"Of course I am, and sure. Why the second one?" Shiro asked, pulling up her menu and setting it so Sinon could see.

"Because last time I met someone from SAO he looked just as much a girl as you or I... wait... whoa, these stats are super high. your VIT and DEF are higher than mine..." Sinon explained.

"How is that possible? Was the other SAO guy's stats this high?" Shiro asked.

"No, but he told me they were much higher in his game before this, ALO, and that they must have reduced after the second transfer..." Sinon answered, pondering the question.

"Well the SAO servers were shut down, restarted and assimilated into ALO. Maybe that caused a glitch with transfers directly from SAO? I haven't even touched my NerveGear since and I only recently got my Amusphere." Shiro proposed.

"Maybe, anyways let's get started. You have high smithing skills so I could actually give you some of my junk materials, since i don't have any crafting, to craft some gear and buy the rest... How'd you play in SAO?" Sinon asked as she started leading Shiro towards a shop.

"If you're fine with it, I can try. As for how I played, I was a solo frontline player. I used a lot of throwing needle skills and a battle scythe with relatively light gear." Shiro answered.

"Wait, if you used light gear, why so much STR? I'd think AGI would be the highest..." Sinon asked.

"A battle scythe is very heavy, it's as long as a polearm and has as much power as a battle axe. It was a hidden weapon type and not in any manuals but the player Dark, later known as 'The Reaper' and 'Guardian Angel', made them popular. Throwing needles also do more damage if you're stronger." Shiro explained.

"Well, from the sound of it you'd be more of a mid to long range fighter. There is actually an ultra rare energy scythe that I know of, but I've never gone after it since I don't use them. As far as I know, only a few people know of its location. As for a weapon, you could craft a basic laser sword and buy an optic rifle. I can give you the materials for the sword and possibly gear, if you can craft it, and even help you getting that item." Sinon said.

"What's in it for you?" Shiro asked.

"I get a bunch of junk off my hands, help out a new player and guarantee something fun to do today. Besides, I haven't gone through an ancient ruins dungeon since I found this lovely piece of work." Sinon answered, finishing by patting the barrel of the anti material rifle on her back.

"Alright, but I don't feel right accepting all of your help for so little. I'll be in your debt so if you ever need a favor just ask." Shiro said with a sigh.

"Whatever, it's really not that big of a deal. Alright, so, mid to long range optical rifle that's 1k or less... Burst and semi automatic rifles are out since they're pricey, but with your stats... How's a sniper sound?" Sinon suggested.

"I've always wanted to try one, to be honest. You need to be precise and your eyesight is the most important thing." Shiro answered.

"Perfect. Since I'm obviously a sniper too I can help you out more than if you got something else. The cheapest optical sniper here is 920 credits and each clip is 5 credits, so that means you can carry 16 clips. That's a lot of ammo." Sinon explained.

"Right... Hey there's one thing I didn't really understand in the player manual. It says that optical weapons aren't good against players since they can be easily blocked and deflected, but it never explained why bullet weapons were bad for PvE." Shiro said as she opened up the shop kiosk.

"Well, truthfully bullet weapons are probably better for PvE than optical ones if you're just going for killing power. But for a bullet weapon, the ammo is a lot more expensive and heavy. My carry load is just a bit lower than yours, but if I carried 16 mags for Hecate then I wouldn't be able to sprint. I can carry about eight, so that 56 shots, and a few for my backup MP7. People don't like using so much money on bullet weapons just to kill mobs." Sinon explained.

"I see. ALright, I got the gun and the ammo. How do I craft the other stuff?" Shiro asked. a moment later.

"Here, accept this trade and I'll give you the materials. Normally I'd sell or auction some of these, but I'm kind of rolling in credits right now so i'm perfectly fine helping you out." Sinon said, opening a trade. Shiro froze.

"Exactly why are you helping me out so much?" She asked softly. Sinon blinked and was a bit confused at the odd change in demeanor.

"When I'm not out shooting stuff I like to help new players get on their feet. You're also an SAO survivor, last time I helped one out I not only gained a new rival, but a best friend. And let me tell you, you seem way easier to get along with than him." Sinon explained with a smile. Shiro smiled at that and accepted the trade.

"Thank you." Shiro said softly.

"Mhm. Now, normally you'd need to find or buy blueprints for these things, but they drop so much in certain areas it's not even worth selling or buying. There's a starforge in the back there. Just put the stuff in, upload the blueprint and start it up. Maybe if you're lucky it'll spawn in something rare, but that's unlikely." Sinon explained.

Ten minutes later, Shiro and Sinon exited the city. Shiro now sported light, black combat pants and boots, a black mesh sleeved shirt under a white turtleneck tank and black fingerless gloves. Her cloak was now more of a mantle than a cloak and she had gotten lucky and accidentally created a rare mask. It was a fabric mask, like a ninja's, that passively calmed her heartbeat. Her colors were a bit contrasting, but the dominant one kept true to her name.

"This sword is way too light..." She muttered as she took the thing out again. She turned it on and looked at the blue blade with a bored expression.

"You sound just like Kirito..." Sinon sighed.

"...Kirito?" Shiro asked.

"That other SAO guy. He complained about how light it was too." Sinon replied.

"That's because he prefered very heavy weaponry so that when he swung, you didn't get back up. I'm just used to the weight of a scythe." Shiro explained.

"Wait you know him?" Sinon asked.

"Knew... We were both solo players, but we often collaborated in fighting or strategizing. The last big thing we did besides fighting on the frontlines was taking out Laughing Coffin." Shiro explained.

"He told me about that. Well, if you were there then I have no doubt how good you are with your weapon. What other th-" Sinon started, but was cut off as Shiro put her arm up in front of her.

"Someone's there." Shiro whispered, crouching down and pulling out her rifle.

"I don't... wait... you're right. They're camping the entrance, great." Sinon said, taking out Hecate and looking through the scope. "Right, I'm going to assume you're somewhat good with that sword of yours. Take your first shot to weaken someone and then run in and do what you can with the sword. I'll cover you with Hecate. I've got my evasion skill up and BPL delay up so I can pump out a whole 7 round clip before they see my lines. There are four of them." Sinon explained.

"Right. They all have Bullet weapons, right? They're a PvP party?" Shiro asked, taking aim.

"Heh, yeah. I actually grouped up with these guys a whole bunch of times. Normally I'd just walk out and say hello to Dyne over there, but I want to see what you can do. I can apologize to him later." Sinon giggled. Shiro smiled a bit and took her first shot in synch with Sinon's. She hit the one square in the chest and his top half exploded. Shiro's shot took out half of an enemy's health bar, a headshot critical. Sinon was impressed at the girl's accuracy on her first shot ever.

Simply dropping the rifle and pulling out the sword, Shiro dashed in faster than Sinon could follow. She took one more shot, but barely missed a death blow as she hit someone's gun instead. Everyone was moving too much, she'd have to be more patient with her shots. She watched Shiro and found herself more impressed than when Kirito beat the gamble machine. Kirito could dodge important shots, even from a machinegun, but Shiro was dodging everything. It was hardly even dodging though, her body twisted and flexed inhumanly to avoid the bullet lines and still attack at the same time, decimating the squad in seconds. She didn't completely dodge everything, but it was damn near close. About 80%, the highest Sinon had ever heard of.

"Damn, you're as accurate as I am and you're more agile than Kirito. SAO survivors are tough stuff." Sinon said when Shiro came to retrieve her rifle. She put her fist up to the girl, and Shiro looked at it for a moment before realizing what it was. She smiled slightly and raised her forearm instead.

"Thanks, I'm more used to this one..." Shiro said softly. Sinon shrugged and bumped her forearm against the girl's. "If we were wearing gauntlets, it would make a distinct sound. That's how I greeted people in SAO." She continued.

"I see. Well, let's wait a bit so your HP can regen." Sinon said, cracking her neck and sitting down on the ground against a tree in front of the ruined structure. Shiro nodded and took a seat opposite, about a foot between them.

"Hey, sorry for prying, but I've never seen an avatar with eyes like that. If you ported over from SAO, this is pretty much what you look like, right?" Sinon asked after a few moments. Shiro, who had curled up slightly and held her knees, gave her an odd look. It wasn't offense, but more of a look you'd give something if you were examining it closely. Perhaps she was gauging whether or not Sinon deserved to hear it.

"I'm completely blind in the real world..." Shiro answered softly. This utterly surprised Sinon. Now that she thought about it, though, it made sense. She recalled the few times when Shiro had mentioned the need for good eyesight and precision, she probably wanted those more than anything.

"I got into the SAO beta as a gift from some company that took pity on people with disabilities. I have a weak body, too, but it's not like I can't walk or something. I had never seen anything before, at least not since I could remember. It was the best thing I had ever experienced. I was strong, too. Strong enough to fight and defeat enemies bigger than me. Most people saw the SAO incident as a death game. For me, though? If I would have died in there, I would have been happy. I could see, and that's all I needed." Shiro explained. She had a slight smile as she explained. SAO was a good memory for her, not the hell Kirito told her of.

"I understand. That must be why you came back to this world. You couldn't stand being blind anymore." Sinon deducted.

"Actually... Seeing that beautiful world, I had come to terms with my disability. I developed my other senses to the point where I could feel somebody walking around a block away if I really, really tried. I came to GGO because I heard it was good... and..." Shiro started.

"If you don't want to tell me that's fine. Everyone has their reasons. I joined because of something in my past. I would have a panic attack every time I even saw a gun. GGO was my therapy." Sinon explained with a smile.

"I came here because I wanted to know what it was like to kill another person when they don't die in real life..." Shiro said, but it was so low Sinon barely caught it.

"..Huh?" Sinon said.

"I killed 4 people in SAO, three of them in the Laughing Coffin and one of them who was a random red player. I didn't feel anything then... I didn't feel anything now, so I know that it isn't just because it was real people dying. I was afraid that my mind wanted me to kill people in reality, but I guess it just doesn't care what I kill." Shiro explained.

"So... You don't feel anything when you kill something? Not even a sense of victory?" Sinon asked.

"I only feel victory if it is a challenging enemy. My life is no longer on the line, though, so I don't think anything here will be a real challenge." Shiro replied.

"Well, as long as you don't enjoy killing I think I can still get along with you just fine. Kirito once told me something, though. He told me that he had grown weak and he got used to not having the constant fear that you won't respawn. Nothing seemed worth fighting anymore. He then told me that he couldn't let that happen, since there was something he absolutely had to fight for. So he forced his mind and body to believe that his life was still on the line and he was back to his strong self again. I know what it's like to be near death, so I know the feeling. But to have that around you for two years straight, you SAO survivors that keep their sanity and find happiness in there are something that I respect with all my being." SInon explained.

It was a minute or two before Shiro stood up and walked over to Sinon. She surprised the blue haired girl by hugging her.

"H-Huh?" Sinon said.

"Thank you... My mind was slipping, even though I had tried reassuring myself... My heartrate was so high I thought I would pass out. This is something that has been bothering me for a long time, but I think I can deal with it now that you said what you did." Shiro explained.

"G-Glad to help...but uh... This is kind of awkward..." Sinon said.

"Sorry..." Shiro said with a blush, quickly letting go and stepping back.

"Eh, it's fine. Damn, he must be getting to me. Kirito is always so philosophical and wise, at least sometimes, and it must be rubbing off on me because that never would have come out of my mouth otherwise. Looks like you're all regenerated now, let's get going. This is tough even for me." Sinon said, turning toward the ruined structure. Shiro nodded and followed.

"You never cease to amaze. I thought you were good against players, but these monsters and NPC soldiers barely touch you." Sinon said as she reloaded her MP7. She was saving her Hecate ammo for the boss and particularly strong enemies while Shiro used her sniper rifle in an extremely odd way.

The Optic sniper rifle she carried was very light and rather small, even for an optic rifle, but it was still a long range weapon. Despite this, she would dash around and bend inhumanly around attacks and enemies alike with sword in one hand and rifle in the other. She would use the rifle to weaken the enemies and finish it off with the sword. Occasionally she would post up when enemies were further away, but either way she dominated.

Sinon, of course, was covering her with her Hecate and MP7, but Shiro could probably solo this dungeon if she really tried and she had better gear.

"Hey, what's this?" Shiro called. Sinon jogged up and saw the odd, futuristic container Shiro was examining.

"It's a rare loot chest. It gives one item to every player in the party and has a high chance of it being either a rare material or rare weapon. It sometimes drops gear, but they're normally not too good and only look cool." Sinon explained, putting her hand above the small blue orb embedded into the top and the thing opened. Two items floated out of it, one in front of Sinon and one in front of Shiro.

In front of Sinon was an optic handgun and in front of Shiro an optic sniper.

"Damn, I always get this one. At least they sell good. What'd you get? What's the color of the name?" Sinon asked. Shiro replied by showing her the item screen. Sinon's eyes widened.

-Weapon: Silent Precision Laser
-Type: Optical
-Rarity: Starship Plating
-Special Effect: Morph Reactor

"Holy shit, a Chrome weapon in a loot chest? That's super rare. I've only had it happen to me twice. And that Morph Reactor... That means that the weapon itself can morph to conform to you... or something like that." Sinon explained.

"Um... This feels weird..." Shiro said when she tried to equip it. She held it in her hands and it suddenly changed and seemed to swallow her arms down to the elbow. The barrel folded into the right arm while the bipod and other less significant parts of the weapon folded into the left.

"That is so cool. I saw someone who had something like this. Try aiming your right arm like it's a gun." Sinon said, anxious to see the thing work. Shiro nodded and trained her right arm down the hall. The barrel extended out of her forearm and a scope slid out of the strange gauntlet and her reticule appeared. When she used her left arm to steady it, the bipod and stock slid out from both.

"I can get used to this..." Shiro said with a small grin.

"Does it use the same ammo type as your other one?" Sinon asked.

"Um... no, but it came with a few clips. I have about 50 shots total with it and 40 with the other one." Shiro answered.

"Well then, let's go get you that scythe. When word gets out that you found a chrome starship plating weapon in a random loot chest people are going to start begging you to join parties and squads if you're so lucky." Sinon explained.

"How do you know that?" Shiro asked as they walked.

"I got this Hecate not long after I first started off of a random boss drop in a much lower leveled dungeon, I stumbled upon a secret boss to get it though and was lucky to survive." Sinon answered.

"Well, I don't think I would want to party with anyone else but you." Shiro said. Sinon smiled at that. She liked that she was liked by the other girl, but from what she'd seen of Shiro, she was lucky to even be talking to her. She seemed so silent and withdrawn. Now that she thought back on it, even the encounter with the group of random guys showed this. On the outside she was emotionless and serious, but her eyes were shaking.

"So, you have trouble with other people too, eh?" Sinon accidentally asked out loud. She clapped her hand over her mouth and was about to apologize, but Shiro just nodded with a slight smile. She always did that, whenever any emotion was on her face it was only slight. She probably didn't really know what to do if she didn't know how they looked, or she was unsure after only seeing others doing it for a short time.

"You're very good at reading people. I guess I'm a bit obvious when you're looking for it... But you're a sniper so that's kind of what you do I guess." Shiro said.

"Mhm...We're at the boss room... He killed me last time I tried him. You have way more HP and DEF than I do and she can kill you in just a few hits. She can't move, but she has starship plating hull around her. The weak point is between the plates, and she has low HP, but her minions make it impossible to solo easily." Sinon explained.

"So I'm guessing you'll mostly take out the minions and take shots when you can while I focus on her weak points since I can get in close." Shiro said.

"Exactly. If I stay back her they won't go for me so everything will be focused on you, but the minions have a high respawn time and they're stationary as well. That means you can use the boss herself to create blind spots." Sinon continued, posting up as many doors slid open and turrets slid out of them. A massive jumble of plating slowly rose from the center. It shifted ever so slightly every now and then.

With a deafening roar, the plates split apart to reveal a horrible creature within. All of the turrets suddenly started shooting at it and the thing hid inside the mass of plates again and the turrets stopped.

"Bioform detected" A synthesized voice said when this happened. When Shiro stepped into the room, the voice repeated itself and the turrets started shooting at her. The creature peeked out of the ball at this time and a name popped above its head.

'Trapped Ancient'

"Looks like the turrets shoot at anything that's living." Sinon said as Shiro jumped back out of range. "And the plates block whatever is detecting it. If you find the scanner or scanners then we can destroy them." She continued.

"No, all we need to do it get a few plates off and the turrets will kill it for us. You said the turrets respawn, right? Take out a few that can hit me and when the thing peeks out I'll run up and pry the plates off with the sword." Shiro said. Sinon thought a moment, nodded and reloaded the Hecate.

As Shiro dashed around the BPLs and the creature peeked out, Sinon quickly destroyed the three turrets that had good shots and Shiro jumped up onto the mass of plates. She got a good look at the creature then. It seemed wolf and bat-like and the plates were fused into its flesh There were less plates than she thought. There was one on each forearm, shoulder, thigh, calf, on its head and back and on on its chest. Thinking quickly, she extended the barrel of her precision laser and blasted the thing in the face, causing it to flinch. In that moment, she activated her energy sword and sliced the thing's right arm off. It screeched an odd screeching howl and headbutted her with its plate covered head. She smashed into the opposite wall and only had a sliver of HP remaining.

"Shiro! Use the plate as a shield and get back to the safe zone!" Sinon called, putting a bullet into the plate on the thing's head to stun it before it could use its ranged beam attack. Shiro slowly got to her feet and held the massive arm she had caught in front of her as she dashed to Sinon.

"Bioform detected." The voice said and all turrets trained on her and the beast. She put the shield up towards where she saw the sensors trained on her and the turrets switched to the beast again. In seconds, it was torn down by laser turret fire. Quickly, Shiro and Sinon took out the sensors and rested a bit.

"Damn, that really hurt." Shiro said, cracking her back.

"I told you she hits hard." Sinon said, tossing her a medical pack. They went to examine the corpse and collect their loot. It hung from the top of the mass of plates, its feet fused with the mechanism, and it had long scythe blades instead of claws on its hands. It suddenly convulsed and puked out a chest similar to the previous one. This one had a white light instead of blue, though.

"These bosses normally drop chests like these, white means it's more likely to give a Chrome item. If one of us gets that scythe it's yours, if I get it we can just trade items." Sinon explained.

"What if neither of us get it?" Shiro asked, not too anxious to touch the bile covered thing.

"Then we come back tomorrow and redo the dungeon." Sinon said with a shrug and opened the chest. In front of Sinon floated a chrome colored item that looked like the defensive shield they both carried. She seemed happy about it.

"Alright, seriously... What the hell is up with your luck? You got the black colored version of it. It's only one step up from chrome, but seriously? Two ultra rares in a row? Maybe new players have increased luck or something..." Sinon sighed. Shiro looked at the stats of the thing.

-Weapon: Black Reaper
-Type: Scythe
-Rarity: Antimatter Plating
-Special: Indestructible

"Antimatter plating items are always Black and they're the only indestructible items in the game. There are also only a few of them, and none of them are things like armor or shields. I'm getting some lucky drops too, though, so maybe I should stick around a bit longer. You're like a good luck charm." Sinon explained, ending with a little giggle. Shiro smiled and walked up to her. She put her forearm up. With a smile, Sinon bumped hers with the girl's and they walked towards the exit.